The Blind Side

[61292cna]

I agree! Loved this movie! I thought Sandra Bullock was hilarious and her son in the movie cracked me up (DH swears if we ever had a son he would be like that kid lol). We have probably watched that movie a dozen times already lol.

my DGS looks like the kid from the Subway Commercials & wheels & deals (every since he could talk) just like the kid from the blindside. When he grows up, he will be either (heaven help us!) Donald Trump or Bernie Madoff.

 

[4nana]

We rented on Comcast last night, great watch and very inspirational!!

Love Sandra Bullock, she set a wonderful example. Altho I've seen Tim Mcgraw in a couple of movies (my fave singer btw) IMO needs to stick to singing.

 

[Minnie]

Altho I've seen Tim Mcgraw in a couple of movies (my fave singer btw) IMO needs to stick to singing.

I thought he did surprisingly well in this role

 

[kinntj]

I just bought this movie today and hope to see it tomorrow. The reviews were so good that I thought it was worth it to buy and not just rent.

I skipped most of these posts just to make sure I didn't too much information on it before I see it.

 

[luvsJack]

I thought the "friend" situation was explained when Mike heard him and his dad arguing through the wall (at least I think it was the kid- didn't the Dad explain that it was just him and the kids?). The "friend" wanted his dad to throw Mike out of their house, because he was too much trouble. We didn't see him or hear about him again because he wasn't really Mike's friend.

I think the one in the paper at the end was the boy who was at the drug house- the one who had dropped out of community college because he didn't like people telling him what to do.

These are both the way I understood it to be. I think the boy told his father he wanted it to be just the two of them.


I saw the book at WalMart this evening. I didn't buy it but was thinking of getting it on my next trip there. Has anyone here read it?

 

[runwad]

I heard on the radio when the movie came out that the guy who played Big Mike was actually homeless in real life or about to be evicted, can't remember now.

And Luvsjack I got the book from the library but didn't get thru it very far cause the football coach or a recruiter was writing it and it was to much about football and plays. I stopped reading it. Maybe it got more into Mike's life in later chapters but i couldnt get thru the beginning to find out. I was disappointed since usually books are better than movies.

 

[tinatark]

We liked it as well... anyone know what happened to his birth mother? I fully expected to see her there when "her baby" made it into the NFL.

It bothered me that S. Bullock turned down the role 3 times because of a "discomfort with portraying a devout Christian" - I had heard that before I watched the movie, but then during the movie, aside from her sending her kids to a Christian school and praying before one of the meals, I didn't really see the family portrayed as "devoutly Christian".

 

[luvsJack]

I heard on the radio when the movie came out that the guy who played Big Mike was actually homeless in real life or about to be evicted, can't remember now.

And Luvsjack I got the book from the library but didn't get thru it very far cause the football coach or a recruiter was writing it and it was to much about football and plays. I stopped reading it. Maybe it got more into Mike's life in later chapters but i couldnt get thru the beginning to find out. I was disappointed since usually books are better than movies.

Wow, that is really interesting about the actor.

I hate to hear that about the book. I agree that books are usually so much better than movie. Might be a book my oldest ds would enjoy though.

 

[luvsJack]

We liked it as well... anyone know what happened to his birth mother? I fully expected to see her there when "her baby" made it into the NFL.

It bothered me that S. Bullock turned down the role 3 times because of a "discomfort with portraying a devout Christian" - I had heard that before I watched the movie, but then during the movie, aside from her sending her kids to a Christian school and praying before one of the meals, I didn't really see the family portrayed as "devoutly Christian".

I didn't either. In fact I was a little surprised because it was stressed so much that they were Christian and it was really just touched on.

I heard on some entertainment news show that the role was offered to Julia Roberts first and that she turned it down (they didn't say why).

 

[TwingleMum]

We just watched it with our boys(6,6 and 9) It has a great message about what is a family and not to judge people. I was surprized how much the boys "got it" and they also enjoyed the movie, I was a little afraid they would lose interest. They really enjoyed that it was about "real" people and they were really interested at the credits to see the real people. They were also the little movie critics saying that they thought Sandra Bullock deserved her Academy Award. That she did a good job acting. SJ cracked them up.

 

[Bluestars]

I watched it the night before last and thought it was a wonderful movie. It was very heartwarming.

 

[luvflorida]

Just finished watching the movie. I loved it! I laughed and I cried. Okay, I bawled at the end.

My husband left today on a business trip, but he downloaded The Blind Side on his iPhone last night so that he could watch it on his flight. I wanted to relax tonight with a good movie, so I bought the DVD this afternoon.

We both really liked it.

Wonderful performances by everyone in the movie. Love Kathy Bates in anything! I also liked seeing pictures of the "actual" people when the credits were rolling.

 

[cannp123165]

I really enjoyed this movie too! I loved the story and thought the cast did a great job.

 

[Amg120499]

I finally got a chance to watch this last night. I laughed and I cried. Very good movie.

 

[Ohiodislover]

These are both the way I understood it to be. I think the boy told his father he wanted it to be just the two of them.


I saw the book at WalMart this evening. I didn't buy it but was thinking of getting it on my next trip there. Has anyone here read it?

And Luvsjack I got the book from the library but didn't get thru it very far cause the football coach or a recruiter was writing it and it was to much about football and plays. I stopped reading it. Maybe it got more into Mike's life in later chapters but i couldnt get thru the beginning to find out. I was disappointed since usually books are better than movies.

I hate to hear that about the book. I agree that books are usually so much better than movie. Might be a book my oldest ds would enjoy though.

From what I understand the book is much closer to the real life of Micheal Oher. I live in Balto, and he plays for the Ravens. There was much talk on the local news, and radio about his feelings toward the movie. It portrayed him to be much more helpless, and ignorant than he really was. He feels exploited after the movie.

It was a great movie. The acting was great. I guess in the back of my mind, I just kept thinking if this was a truly Christian act, then why are the family still trying to make more and more $$ off of the situation.

 

[simba20]

From what I understand the book is much closer to the real life of Micheal Oher. I live in Balto, and he plays for the Ravens. There was much talk on the local news, and radio about his feelings toward the movie. It portrayed him to be much more helpless, and ignorant than he really was. He feels exploited after the movie.

It was a great movie. The acting was great. I guess in the back of my mind, I just kept thinking if this was a truly Christian act, then why are the family still trying to make more and more $$ off of the situation.

The Tuohy's, the family that "adopted" Michael aren;t trying to make gobs of money off the story. Michael Lewis who write the book, AHEM IS NOT A FOOTBALL COACH OR RECRUITER but a famous sportswriter, who happens to be friends with Sean Tuohy -- they were classmates growing up. Anyway, while in Memphis doing research (for something else) Sean mentioned Michael Oher who was becomign a part of their family. ML didn;t pay much attention, until later when he learned that the left tackle is one of the highest paid positions in the NFL. After meeting Michael Oher and talking with Sean through "catching-up" phone calls, ML remembered that ST had mentioned something about this kid, and called Sean to learn that college coaches were now hounding MO as they saw him as a future NFL left tackle. Later ML had dinner with ST and asked more about Mike. After the dinner ML's wife turned to him and said "I know you're writing a football story, but you're going after the wrong thing, you football story should be about this kid." (which his wife had learned about MO's background at dinner with ST).

So ML changed his story and started spending a lot of time visiting his friend ST. The Touhy's only wanted the story told in the spirit you get formt he movie....not as a money making scheme. For that, blame ML, for writing a geat book.

And yes, I have read the book. All this is explained inthe epilogue. But I will warn you, about half of the book is like an NFL/football research paper, with bits about MO thrown in. You learn the history of the importance of the left tackle and all you could possibly want to know abotu football/college recruiting/etc. The movie also changed some events.

As far as someone's comment about how Sandra turned down the role, due to not wanting to play a devout Christian and that the family's religion wasn't played up in the movie.......maybe once Sandy accepted the role, she had something to do with that change.

Anyway, I loved the movie I bought the book right after seeing the movie int he theatre and loved it too. Now all the papers are printing little "Blindside" stories of their own. MO just happened to live with the right family who knew a famous sportwriter.

 

[asta]

Loved the movie. Sean Tuohy spoke to an assembly at my daughter's school earlier this year. His talk was excellent. He talked to the students about the importance of "turning around" and taking notice of those you might otherwise not see. How even little things they do might make a huge difference in someone else's life. Great message for high school students to hear. Other points he made: the portrayal of his younger son was spot on and the process of bringing Michael Oher into their family wasn't quite as simple as shown in the movie. He talked about how his wife spent time driving Michael after school/sports to different places to spend the night. I think the last straw was taking him one time to a place where all he had was an inflatible mattress that wouldn't even stay inflated through the night.

He focused on the turn around message by saying that these were the words that his wife used that night when they first stopped their car. Later, the process the movie was placed in before being made was called a turn around. It all fits together to make a strong message.

 

[smschex]

Add us to the list of families who watched The Blind Side this weekend. What a great movie! And the best part was we were all able to enjoy it together. It is a rare movie these days which holds the attention of me, DH, DD13, DD10, and DS15. As avid SEC football fans, we especially enjoyed all the coaches playing themselves--well, to be more specific, we enjoyed booing certain coaches!

 

[simba20]

Add us to the list of families who watched The Blind Side this weekend. What a great movie! And the best part was we were all able to enjoy it together. It is a rare movie these days which holds the attention of me, DH, DD13, DD10, and DS15. As avid SEC football fans, we especially enjoyed all the coaches playing themselves--well, to be more specific, we enjoyed booing certain coaches!

The mayor of the "big city" I live near (I am out int he boonies) played one of the assistant coaches. Parts of the movie were filmed near where I live. The guy who played Michael Oher, is from said "big city."

What is also funny, is that the filmmakers did nothing to hide the fact that they filmed in Georgia. Right at the beginning of the movie, Sandra drives right by a billboard that advertises in HUGE font size "770" Some of the "ghetto" stores also have GA lottery signs in the windows. Hubster and I wondered what a GA lottery peach was doing in Memphis. LOL!

 

[SaraJayne]

From what I understand the book is much closer to the real life of Micheal Oher. I live in Balto, and he plays for the Ravens. There was much talk on the local news, and radio about his feelings toward the movie. It portrayed him to be much more helpless, and ignorant than he really was. He feels exploited after the movie.

It was a great movie. The acting was great. I guess in the back of my mind, I just kept thinking if this was a truly Christian act, then why are the family still trying to make more and more $$ off of the situation.

Michael Oher did not want the movie made in the first place.

We saw it and I really liked it...but then I heard someone on TV (and I can't remember who it was) mention something about it being another story about a white family reaching down and pulling up a black kid out of his miserable "ghetto" existence.

And that comment really made me stop and think what the movie is truly about. Is it really about the loving compassion anyone can feel for someone less fortunate than themselves (regardless of color) or did the Tuohy's do it to be patted on the back for their "good deeds".

I don't know the answer to that question...just some food for thought.

Though after hearing that comment, the story has been tainted a bit for me.