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Review: The Blind Side

Don’t be put off — it’s for church-goers

March 25, 2010 10:48
Oscar-winner Sandra Bullock, Quinton Aaron (centre) and Jae Head bond over a book in The Blind Side

ByJonathan Foreman, Jonathan Foreman

3 min read

No recent movie has blind-sided Hollywood like The Blind Side. After an unexpected box-office triumph in the US this winter, this sweet-natured family story went on to win two Oscar nominations and then a best actress award for Sandra Bullock.

It was shocking enough that Sandra Bullock should be the lead of a film that was both successful and watchable. In recent years, the star of 1990s hits like Speed and Miss Congeniality has become more respected for her philanthropy - in 2006 she quietly donated a million dollars to help victims of the Asian tsunami and then a second million for the victims of the Haiti earthquake - than for her movies. With the arguable exception of Crash in 2005, she seemed to have developed a perverse instinct for choosing awful projects.

Even more of a shock was the fact that The Blind Side, without a drop of blood or a single explosion, immediately overtook the teen-oriented vampire flick Twilight Saga Full Moon at the box office.

It seems that it was able to do so partly because it attracted an audience that has tended to shun Hollywood films for many years, namely church-goers. Amazed to discover a movie in which the good guys happen to be practising Christians, they have turned up to see this uplifting pro-family tale in droves.

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