Movie Reviews - The Blind Side

Movie Reviews this week looks at the Oscar winning biographical drama The Blind Side.
It is an absolutely charming story, of Leigh Anne Tuohy played by the lovely Sandra Bullock (Speed), and the story of her adopted son, and you can see immediately why she won the best actress Oscar.

She plays a conservative mother in a very nice and well-off neighbourhood, who sees Michael Oher played very convincingly by Quinton Aaron, one rainy night walking aimlessly, she asks her husband Sean played by Tim McGraw (Four Christmases), to stop the car, she asks him where he is heading seeing he is just in a t-shirt in the pouring rain, he says he is going to the gym, she asks him again why he is going to the gym, and tells him the gym closed a while back, and for him not to lie to her, he says he is simply going there because it is warm.

Prior to this, we are told the story of how Mike got into the school in the first place. The coach at this Christian school, Burt Cotton played charmingly as always by Ray McKinnon (Randy and the Mob) had been approached by a fellow to allow his son into the school, as well as Mike, the coach sees Mike and the man's son playing basketball and sees the potential of Mike making them famous on a sporting arena, so convinces the board that it is their Christian duty to let him in. However in class Mike seems distant minded, and all the teachers are worried as he seems the slowest in the class, except for one particular teacher Mrs. Bower played the lovely Kim Dickens (Hollow Man) who notices Mike remembers the majority of what the teachers are saying, as he is able to describe in his own words the grasp of what it is they are saying, but may not necessarily write it down as eloquently as they wanted. As all the teachers are discussing Mike's ability one day, wondering if he can write, Mrs. Bower shows them a note that Mike had written that had been thrown in the trash, speaking of his sadness and what the teachers expect of him, to do all the work alone.

Leigh asks where he lives, his parents, or grandparents, Mike shakes his head nonchalantly, and Leigh amazingly takes him to her home, with a mild confrontation with her husband as to how long Mike is going to stay, he asks "This is just for the one night"? Where Leigh nods absentmindedly, but the expression on her face is already thinking of much longer term.

Mike gets along with Leigh's two children, her son S.J. played very impressively by Jae Head, and her daughter Collins played by the adorable Lily Collins, Leigh asks her how she would feel if Mike moved in with them permanently, she nonchalantly agrees, and when Mike is asked how he would feel moving having Leigh and Sean as his legal guardians, he smiles and thought he was already part of the family.

The Blind Side turns out is a very beautiful movie, of acceptance and love that a young man needs, and the struggle one woman faces with social services, her social circles, and the community in trying to make one boy's life better, and what makes this movie even more amazing is this is a true story.

Movie Reviews is constantly updated with good reviews of great movies that are a must see.

Leigh Anne Tuohy (Sandra Bullock) sitting with her adopted son, Mike (Quinon Aaron)

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Movie - Four Christmases

This is a lovely holiday season movie, starring the lovely Resse Witherspoon (playing a far different character these days than the affectionate and effervescing young lady in Legally Blonde) as Kate and the hyperactive Vince Vaughn (The Wedding Crashers) as Brad, a couple who would rather spend Christmas vacationing in Fiji than with their families, in fact they make it a ritual during the holidays to go on vacation but to lie to their families that they are involved in a worthy cause (usually charity) that can justify their exclusion during any holiday event.

Over the years their lies about inoculating babies in Burma, or doing some other charity work has always helped them avoid their families for Christmas, but on this particular time as they are waiting at the airport, it turns out all flights have been cancelled because of a bad fog, and a TV crew happens to be interviewing passengers on how they feel about their flights being cancelled during the holiday period, they so happen to come upon Brad and Kate, much to their embarrassment as their phones soon afterwards start ringing; with their respected families saying they have seen them on TV.

Brad and Kate now see they have no choice but to visit all four of their families (Brad's mum and dad played by the stalwart Robert Duvall [The GodFather] as Howard and Sissy Spacek [JFK] as Paula, since they are divorced) and Kate's families (her mum and dad, played by the dependable Jon Voight [Midnight Cowboy] as Creighton and Mary Steenburgen [In The Electric Mist] as Marilyn, who are equally divorced) hence the name Four Christmases.

The first visit is to the home of Brad's father, it turns out his brothers Denver and Dallas played by Jon Favreau (The Break-Up) and Tim McGraw, are UFC (Ultimate Fighting Championship) type cage fighters (except there are not professional but only upload their fights on youtube), and no sooner are they re-acquainted does Brad finds himself in some bone crunching wrestling moves, it turns out this is the norm, and that Brad's real name is Orlando, which Kate didn't know, she takes him to one side to ask why he didn't feel comfortable with her after three years of a relationship, to reveal this bit about himself, he says he changed his name because he didn't like it, and didn't see a problem. It also turns out that there is a $10 limit to the presents that should be bought for the children, however Brad was unaware of this and bought an Xbox for one of his nephews, while the other nephew has to make do with a torch light, much to the father's embarrassment.

The visit to Kate's family also reveals some of her fears, that for some time the kids around the neighbourhood avoided her because they thought she had cooties, calling her "Cootie Kate", and her passive aggressive older sister Courtney played by the endearing Kristin Chenoweth (RV) reveals these embarrassing secrets.

The visits amongst Brad's and Kate's respective families shows that the couple are not as close to each other as they thought, especially during a game where the partner has to guess what card the other half is holding, without giving out the name, and this prompts Kate especially to reconsider if they are true and comfortable with each other to spend the rest of their lives together.

It is a warm festive movie, the whole family will enjoy.

Brad (Vince Vaughn) and Kate (Reese Witherspoon) visiting one of their relatives

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