Karen Bassilakis
Ms. Taylor
APLAC
12 February 2012
The Blind Side, directed by John Lee Hancock, is the classic, feel good, inspirational sports movie any person is willing to watch. Based on the best seller "The Blind Side: Evolution of a Game," written by Michael Lewis, this movie is sure to be considered as one of the great movies of this time(rottentomatoes).
Michael Oher (Quinton Aarom) is a troubled African American boy that grew up in "Hurt Village" in a Memphis. Once found on the street in the cold of winter with just shorts and a t-shirt on, Leigh Anne Touhy (Sandra Bullock) takes him into their family home and eventually adopts him. As Michael grows more comfortable, he develops into a phenomenal football player, and is eventually drafted into the NFL in 2009.
For a movie to be considered a good movie, it needs strong characters. Without a doubt, Michael Oher captures the audiences heart by his rough childhood, and his ability to overcome adversity. A critic from "American Profile" writes, "Football may the thread that runs throughout, but the movie is much more interested in the tale of how Oher left behind a life of poverty, violence and foster-home despair to become a champ on the gridiron." (rottontomatoes). Michael is portrayed as a protective yet loving young man, especially when he and his "younger brother" SJ get in a car accident, and Oher risks his life to save the boys. Also, son of Leigh Anne Touhy, and Sean Touhy(Tim McGraw), SJ creates humor and excitement throughout the story. As the audience watches SJ's fascination with Michael grow throughout the movie, it is hard for him not to become a favorite character. Lastly, Sandra Bullock and Tim McGraw depict a conservative, strong married couple that is typical in the South. In fact, Sandra Bullock has received, an Oscar, a Golden Globe, and a SAG award for her role in this film (Imbd reviews).
Furthermore, this movie presents an important moral through the story line. I believe a good movie should not just be entertaining, but also educational, and should change your life in some way. This is exactly what The Blind Side does. Set in a very conservative city, Michael Oher is the only colored person at the Catholic High School he attends. Many do not talk to him, or even acknowledge him when walking into a room. When the Toulys included Michael into their Christmas card one year, they received countless phone calls question what he was doing in the picture. However, as the story develops he begins to befriend more people, and become accepted. Also, they teach the moral of "never give up". This boy who could barely read, worked hard and got his grades up to be able to attend college. He also, practiced football every day and became a famous NFL player. This is the classic tale of "rags to riches" that every American loves.
Lastly, a good movie must keep the audiences attention through the whole thing. The plot of The Blind Side takes an unexpected turn near the end when Michael Oher is taken into an investigator of the NCAA's office to be question about his motives of choosing Ole Miss as his college. The causes Michael to question the Touhy's motives of adopting him, and thus causes the audience impatiently await if Micael will in fact attend Ole Miss, or attend the rival school Tennessee.
Many may disagree, and state that The Blind Side is unrealistic and boring. However, they are not looking at the overall picture, and how it is such an inspiration story and a classic sports movie. If you are looking for a emotional, moving story go out and rent The Blind Side today!
Works Cited
Tomatoes, Rotton. The Blind Side (2009).http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/1212694-blind_side/. (accessed on February 12,2012)
IMDb. The Blind Side. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0878804/. (accessed on February 12, 2012)
IMDb. Awards for The Blind Side http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0878804/awards. (accessed on February 12, 2012)
Karen,
ReplyDeleteYour review is outstanding! You gave the reader a clear picture of the movie plot without divulging any spoilers. I appreciated your format of gradually going through the plot of the movie while both acknowledging the audience and developing your argument about a great movie. This had a nice flow. Your criteria for a good movie were very clear which solidified your argument. You established ethos by crediting reputable sources and mentioning the awards this movie has won. You also appealed to pathos in your description of the American ideal of "rags to riches" stories. You explained the moral lessons taught by the film in a further appeal to emotion. If I could change one thing, I might have looked further into the stances of people who criticize the movie, and explained why exactly they are wrong. Overall, great job!!
Your review just reminded me why this movie is one of my favorites. Your criteria were clear and persuasive because of its logical and emotional appeals. You deliberated on your audience strongly and approached your argument and presented it accordingly. I appreciate your use of pathos when describing the characteristics of the character of Michael Oher using vivid descriptions of his most valued trait and qualities such as protectiveness and reference to his journey to overcome adversity. You provided just enough background information on the subject to satisfy the audience of the originality of the plot and outstanding storyline. I agree with Laila that your argument was impressively constructed and your ideas and evidence flowed nicely. Overall, I think you did a great job capturing and reviewing this film.
ReplyDeleteYour review on the Blind side was written very well. By giving the summary of the movie throughout the development of your argument makes for the structure to be effective. I have seen this movie but I believe that someone who has not would still be able to understand the movies plot. Also, you created ethos by the citing of different sources and the naming of different actors and the book that the movie was based on. In general this movie provokes a sense of emotion, but within this review you were able to capture that same feelings and allow the readers to feel it. I liked how you touched upon the feelings of the side but you could have gone more in depth. But overall this was a very good review, and I agree that The Blind Side is a classic, inspirational sport movie.
ReplyDeleteKaren, overall you did really well with your review. I liked how you talked about how even though it was a sports film, anyone would enjoy watching it. Your argument was convincing and you provided a strong rebuttal in a few words. Great job including several "classic" aspects about the movie like the actors, the moral, and keeping the audience engaged.
ReplyDeleteAwesome job Karen! I thoroughly enjoyed your review, as it provided both a solid description of the movie, as well as a well-developed interpretation. By defining a good movie early on, you set the criteria for the rest of your evaluation to be based on, and were able to focus around this particular definition very well. I especially liked how you discussed how the movie appeals to pathos, but did not actually state pathos. I think this is good, because, as a movie reviewer, your audience would likely be unaware of pathos as an appeal. (You did the same thing with the didactic nature of this film, by simplifying it to "presents an important moral through the story line) By putting it in simpler terms, you accomplish the same goal and make it comprehend able to the general public. However, I think your response/conclusion could have been a little stronger. You state what negative critics of the movie might say, but should go one step further by again stating HOW it is not "unrealistic and boring." All in all, you did a great job and I loved reading it!
ReplyDeleteKimmy, This was an excellent review of The Inside Man. Relating the actions of the character directly to the appeals they generate in the audience made it easy for the reader to understand how this character was “the best.” I also found your attack of the counterargument very strong as you attacked both the critic and his position in a slightly humorous way because the reader will most likely respond the humorous aspect. My only advice would be to watch out for loaded words such as “mesmerizes” because it gives the audience a slightly false pretense as to how they may feel during the movie. Overall, I found the argument quite compelling. (By Emma Richard)
ReplyDelete