Bullock Shines in Crowd-Pleasing Blind Side

The Blind Side lacks inherent suspense—it's based on the true story of Michael Oher, a rookie offensive tackle for the Baltimore Ravens. But the tale of a homeless African-American teen adopted by big-hearted white yuppies, at bottom a Sandra Bullock vehicle, goes over big in football country.

• Writer-director John Lee Hancock "manages to turn a movie that could have been about nothing more than 'white guilt' into something that surprisingly defies expectations and can be downright inspiring," writes Roger Moore in the Orlando Sentinel.

• "The overwhelming reaction upon seeing this Oscar-worthy performance is 'finally!' followed quickly by, 'Why the heck did it take so long?'" Michael Granberry of the Dallas Morning News says of Bullock's star turn as Memphis interior designer Leigh Anne Tuohy.
• In Austin, reality intrudes: "Despite the accuracy of much of the story, the film still suffers from a saccharine overdose and unnecessary touches meant to lend credibility," Matthew Odam writes for the American-Statesman, and Hancock errs when he "chooses to tell his story solely through the eyes of the loving but self-righteous Leigh Anne."
• "The overriding virtue of the movie is that it fleshes out the inspiring idea that a young man from a destructive environment can bloom in a caring one," writes Michael Sragow in Oher's new hometown paper, the Baltimore Sun, "even if he's already in his teens when he gets there."

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