Netflix Journal: The Blind Side

The Blind Side is a great "made for TV" film. But really, it's not even great on that level. It's not very well written, well paced, or well acted. Though the film doesn't achieve greatness by any means, it steers clear of failure. Landing somewhere in the middle, The Blind Side does one thing extremely well molding the rest of the film around this quality. The Blind Side is all about feeling good and sustaining this feeling for a smooth ride.

If there is any conflicts in this film they surely don't last longer than 2 minutes. When we find out that Michael Oher, aka Big Mike, has slim chances of getting into a good Christian school, a coach soon fights for his admittance. When Big Mike wanders around school, he's soon greeted by SJ. When Big Mike is found walking in the rain, he's immediately taken in by his new family. When no one believes Big Mike is capable of passing anything, a teacher quickly aids him. When the issue of officially adopting Big Mike into the Tuohy family comes up, a short bathroom conversation resolves things.  Misunderstanding friends? No big deal. Car accident? Could have happened to anybody. Domestic brawl complete with gunfire? Just close your eyes and it's like it never happened. Investigation lawyer?Brushed aside. 

The lack of anything difficult or conflicting in the plot makes all the characters simple and flat. No one really changes, or what little changes there are are so small that they make little contribution to the film as a whole. The plot covers a lot of ground, which tends to be the case with movies based on true events. I tend like this quality because it reminds me that there are great stories in life even if they're not particular well crafted or efficient.

The result for this film is a very uneventful and also uninspiring story. Sure, giving people a chance, fighting for family, overcoming racial bias, and believing in the impossible are very inspiring ideas. However, the storytelling of the film takes away from the highs these ideas can bring by undermining the seriousness of the circumstances. So from start to end, I just sat back and enjoyed what I could of The Blind Side.