Opening this past weekend was “The Blind Side,” the screen adaptation of the story of Michael Oher (Quinton Aaron, “Be Kind, Rewind”), a boy who grew up in the slums of Memphis and fought his way to the NFL with the help and compassion of the wealthy family that brought him into their home. The film adaptation essentially boils down the book to the basic elements of Oher’s personal journey, ignoring much of the complexity that makes his story so rich.
The film is adapted from “The Blind Side: Evolution of a Game” by Michael Lewis (“Moneyball,” “Liar’s Poker”). The book is a tremendously crafted human story across the backdrop of excellent football journalism, accessible to both football teetotalers as well as the informed fan. Lewis’ greatest asset is his ability to uncover the astonishing interconnectivity of seemingly divergent factors — in this case, the increasing importance of the left tackle position as a result of more pass-based football stratagems in the NFL.
As per usual with text-to-screen adaptations, much of the book was left out to have an accessible finished product with a reasonable running time. The film leaves out much of the backstories of former NFL players and analysis of Bill Walsh’s West Coast offense, which is regrettable but probably necessary. Instead, “The Blind Side” seeks to focus on the human story of Michael Oher, conveying the expected themes of courage, equality and unconditional love.
If the book used Michael Oher’s story as an exemplar of both human achievement as well as the developing complexities of professional football, then the movie is only the story of an underprivileged, oversized boy from the hood who, through a combination of love and hard work, becomes a starting offensive lineman for the Ole Miss Rebels.
The biggest crime of omission, though, is the lack of an analytical explanation of what made Michael Oher such a fearsome physical specimen and an instant top football recruit in the nation. Brief references to the effect former Giants linebacker Lawrence Taylor had on the left tackle position bookend the film to maintain a trace of perspective, but there is so much more to his story than is shown and, at times, it seems as if Michael’s success is a result of pure coincidence. More scenes of Michael actually playing football would have served the movie well, if only to dramatize the sheer power of a player like Oher, the likes of which are one of a kind.
Despite these flaws, Sandra Bullock (“All About Steve”) does very well in the role of Leigh Anne Tuohy, the strong-willed and compassionate mother who brings Michael into her home and gives him the opportunities he never had. It’s a more difficult role than one might expect. While she may not be the protagonist per se, she is certainly the leading role and the character most accurately translated from the book to the film. Television ads for the movie boast other reviews heralding her performance as Oscar worthy, and while this is certainly a stretch, her work in the role is the strongest in the film and the best from Bullock since “Crash.”
Overall, though, the movie’s biggest failure is its inability to adequately contextualize the incredible story of Michael Oher. It would be unfair to criticize the film for not including all the minutiae from the book, and, in fact, the film does carry over many of the foibles and wrinkles that give the story color.
However, there is no nonfiction base to put the perfect storm of events that led to Michael being one of the top recruits in the country in its rightful perspective. The film focuses too heavily on the human story and in so doing leaves behind key elements of Michael’s strange existence, a story that deserves telling. No film should attempt imitation, but even standing alone, “The Blind Side” leaves the story of Michael Oher too enigmatic to be appreciated.
College football fans will get a kick out of brief cameos from SEC coaches Nick Saban, Phil Fulmer and Lou Holtz and the film is still family-friendly, but “The Blind Side” still struggles to do the story of Michael Oher justice, which is what any adaptation of this nature ought to do.
2 stars out of 5.
