rags to riches stories don't always involve a pretty girl in a pretty dress. The Blind Side doesn't make a song and dance about it.

TDR RATING 8/10

Michael Oher (Quinton Aaron): It's nice, I never had one before.Leigh Anne Touhy (Sandra Bullock): What, a room to yourself?Michael Oher: A bed.

It is with great shame that I admit that I hadn't seen this before now. Every now and then some movies just fall by the wayside. I sat down to watch this just after having seen Into the Wild, Emilie Hirsch plays Chris McCandless who abandons his modern life to live in the wilderness. I recommend only watching this if you are feeling emotionally stable as it will leave you a little unhinged. Back to my point, The Blind Side was a completely contrasting story, though both inspirational for different reasons both carry the same idea. A true story about a young Michael Oher (Quinton Aaron) and his journey from the housing projects to American football superstar. Now I know very little about American football and the NFL other than that college football is a REALLY BIG DEAL! Honestly I am only really interested in the half time show; that’s the fault of my day job. The year Beyoncé performed, I really did try to watch the whole thing, but there was a power cut in the 3^rd quarter? I think? It was about 4 a.m. here in London, I couldn’t make it to the end and I just fell asleep.  

John Lee Hancock’s interpretation of Michael Lewis’s book The Blind Side: Evolution of a Game is in essence a documentation of Oher’s rag to riches story. Oher had a difficult start like many young people who grew up in the projects, for lack of a better word he is rescued. Oher was taken in by the Tuohy’s who are a well to do family whose fortune came from the Taco Bell/Pizza Hut franchise. Sandra Bullock won the 2009 Best Actress Academy Award for her role as Leigh Anne Tuohy. Her Good Samaritan nature kicks in when she spot’s Michael wandering the streets in the rain in only a t-shirt and shorts and carrying a spare t-shirt in a plastic bag. We follow as Michael and Leigh-Anne bond as she enables him to achieve what he thought was a near impossible future. It is a real-life Cinderella story that isn't without heart and power. I feel that Bullock is often underestimated in her ability and the gravitas that she can present along with her charming personality and sense of humour.

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The Blind Side makes you laugh and feel good but the picture doesn’t lead you up the garden path. John Lee Hancock makes a solid point of showing that many of these young men and women from these housing projects don’t have such a lucky escape.