Hey, everyone. Capone in Chicago here.

In some very interesting ways, this true story about how a white family in Tennessee takes in a massive young black man and raises him as their own son is the flip side to the recently released Precious. The biggest different being that it seems like in THE BLIND SIDE that for reasons that are never really explained or explored, white people are practically tripping over each other to help Michael Oher, whereas in Precious, the world completely ignores and sees through the title character. Oher, of course, grew up to be a tackle for the Baltimore Ravens (he's in the midst of his rookie season this year), but this film highlights his high school years when he made the journey from living on the street with a crackhead mother back home to his becoming a much-scouted player.

Oher's story is actually quite fascinating stuff, but instead writer-director John Lee Hancock (THE ROOKIE, THE ALAMO) has adapted Michael Lewis' book about Oher and made it the story of Leigh Anne Touhy (played not nearly as over the top as you might think by Sandra Bullock), whose young son S.J. (Jae Head) forms a friendship with "Big Mike" and decides to take an interest in the young man when she spots him wondering the Memphis streets in the cold one night. Without much discussion, the Tougys allow Michael to sleep and eat in their home, buy him clothes, eventually clear out Leigh Anne's work room to give him his own bedroom, and get to know this troubled, quiet young man with a low IQ but a highly protective instinct. There are times listening to Leigh Anne and her husband Sean (singer Tim McGraw), where their conversations and attitudes about Michael seem dangerously close to treating him like a fixer-upper or worse, a pet. But eventually Hancock pulls the story around and lets the real connection between this family (which is rounded out by daughter Collins, played by Lily Collins) and Oher really come through.

THE BLIND SIDE also features a couple of my favorite character actors, which added to my modest enjoyment of the film. I particularly liked Kim Dickens as a teacher who first spots Michael's intellect and realizes that his ability to learn is tied to someone actually telling him the material rather than him reading it himself. Ray McKinnon plays Oher's high school football coach, who essentially has to teach Michael the game from the ground up (with much help from Leigh Anne). And sue me if you want, but whenever Kathy Bates (playing Michael's tutor Miss Sue) is in a movie, I get just a little more interested. Also, I don't know squat about Tim McGraw's country music career, but I've always enjoyed his acting in such works as FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS (the movie), THE KINGDOM, and even the otherwise abysmal FOUR CHRISTMASES.

But most of the acting talk surrounding this film has been about Bullock's surprisingly underplayed portrayal of Leigh Anne Touhy--by all accounts a proper Southern lady with a ferocious mama-bear streak when it comes to her family. She's strong in will, meticulous in appearance, and will walk through fire (or in the case of Michael, the projects) for her kids. Bullock doesn't play up the accent or the attitude, and it's a quality performance however you measure it. But all of this talk of awards is nonsense; don't believe it. If you're a Bullock fan who has grown weary of her terrible romantic comedies and likes it when she plays it straight, you'll be in heaven with this THE BLIND SIDE. But this is not a game-changing performance. We're not getting a side to Bullock we've never seen; we're getting one we don't see often. It's a step in the right direction, but she's not winning or getting nominated for squat for this role.

In THE BLIND SIDE's final act, things get a little sidetracked and away from what makes the film strong. There's an NCAA investigation into how Michael was recruited, and fair questions are asked about his new parents' pushing him to go to Ole Miss, which they are boosters for and alumni of, and whether their eventually becoming his legal guardians was a recruiting tool. But we know what the outcome is going to be, so these scenes get old fast and go on far too long and lead to other scenes that are equally dull. A strong final act might have made me actually love this movie, and while I'm certainly not suggesting Hancock change history, this section doesn't make for interesting cinema. I'm still recommending THE BLIND SIDE because it's a curious story told well and acted with enough dignity and grace that it does justice to what this family accomplished. I also like the timeliness of it, coming at the midpoint of the real Oher's first pro season. These events didn't occur during the height of the Civil Rights movement or some other colorful era; they happened a few years ago and, to a degree, are still unfolding. As it stands, the movie stands solidly on its own, and I think you'll enjoy it without feeling like you have to make excuses for doing so. We're in the midst of the calm before the awards-season storm, and while THE BLIND SIDE doesn't mark the entry point into that time of year, it certainly makes for a nice primer.

-- Capone
capone@aintitcoolmail.com
Follow Me On Twitter