RSS
This a blog that is dedicated to two lifelong friends that have been through a lot together and share one common interest... MOVIES.

Blind Sided by the Blind Side


I know, I know…. It’s been a while. But, I’m baaaaaack! I have been a busy kid lately spending a lot of my free time playing Call of Duty (gamer tag: jclawson0) or looking for a job (Can I get a “what what” from my soon to be graduates in the same boat as me) and it has prohibited me from being motivated to write entries. I apologize for my absence and assure you (kind of) that it won’t happen again.

I recently watched the movie the Blind Side (OMG, that movie was like so six months ago! I know I need to get with the times. I also still have a MySpace so sue me). While watching this movie it brought back memories of my years playing football. A big shout out to my fellow 6th grade Jr. Trojans Trent, Denny, Nuss, and everyone else I forgot to mention. Basically you could call us the Cowboys from Little Giants. I got roped into playing on this team with the ‘select few’ and I don’t know why because I was garbage. I managed to rarely play all season, but somehow the highlight of my season was I led the team in interceptions (PUT ME IN COACH!).

Middle school football is kind of a blur in my head seeing as my 7th grade season was brought to a brutal halt after a promotion to the “A” team. Just as I was getting ready to leave my mark and make a name for myself I got raped (not literally… I didn’t go to school here) in a tackling drill that left me rolling around on the ground like a girl (thanks coach, I wasn’t faking it!) with a shattered collarbone.

My freshman year of high school I had the opportunity to be part of quite possibly the worst sports team in my schools history (We went 0-10 and I don’t think we scored more than 10 touchdowns all year. I must say it was truly an honor to be a part of history at a school with such a rich tradition as CG). I was never a good football player and I recognized that. However, I would always find a way to light someone up and look better than I actually was. Me ‘Blind Siding’ someone would usually occur during a punt return. Before the opposing team punted the ball (Keep in mind this probably occurred 4 times all year. We were 0-10 so teams were too busy dancing in the end zone to punt,) I would always pick out the smallest kid. You see, to say that I was weak wouldn’t do me justice. Therefore, I would always pick battles I knew I would win and going after the kid that weighed 88 pounds and looked like this helped ensure that. This was always an enjoyable moment for me especially amidst a 56-0 blowout.

But I digress, and now back to the movie….

Before I give a brief review here are a couple of my initial reactions:
1.)    When did Sandra Bullock become hott? I mean I have never thought she was ugly by any means, but dang I hope my wife is a MILF when she’s 45.

2.)    Country singers can’t be casted as former SEC Basketball stars. I thought that was rule #1 in the film industry.

3.)  The role of Michael Orr did not require a lot of acting or speaking so why not cast this guy?
4.)  Do all high school football coaches down south no nothing about football? Or was it just that character?

I feel that this movie was successful at what it was trying to get across: A ’feel good’ story showing that people can come from nothing and have success. There was much less actual football playing than I had anticipated, but I was still pleased by the overall story. I enjoyed how they got all of the SEC coaches to participate in this film because it gives many viewers who know nothing about the recruiting process more of an inside look to how intense it can be. Believe me, as a senior in high school it was quite the experience for me to have Roy Williams, Bill Self, and Coach K over for dinner all in the same week. I had to decline all of their offers however because my little brother couldn’t get any sweet deals from them (movie reference).The movie however is fairly predictable (Especially if you read the book, ha ha.. I am hilarioussssss). However, even having not read the book, I was still able to control the plot of the movie accurately in my head.

I was not a fan of the opening seen that introduced ‘Big Mike’ for a couple of reasons and here is why:

      1.)   If you are going to showcase a characters athleticism by having him put on a dunk fest like he is Shawn Kemp on NBA Jam, try to make it look a little more realistic. This part was just cheesy and coming from an avid fan of dunking (another topic for another day.. but I got hops..) and ticked me off.

      2.) The relationship between Michael and the little kid he was shooting around with was hardly described. Did they both get into the school? We’re they still friends? Are they not friends according to Facebook (Thanks South Park)? Did Michael sleep with his mom so they aren’t on talking terms? Do they still play Call of Duty: Modern Warfare online together? All of these questions were left unanswered for me.. I just spent much of the movie trying to figure out where that kid went. I was eventually able to make the connection that he dropped out and started running with the bad crowd in the wrong neighborhood. I also realized the underlying message then was probably if you get an opportunity to get out of town and do something great you can take it and run with it, like Orr did, or not, like that other guy and eventually get yourself killed. Which was a good message don’t get me wrong, but my head hurts now from doing all of that thinking and that is not any reason for me to watch a movie. In a nutshell, I would of liked to have seen a little more character/relationship development.

All in all it was a pretty good ‘movie’, and a subpar sports movie. However, The Blind Side did a great job of luring girls into watching a sports movie. In all honesty, I think it might be a movie that is more targeted towards females due to my reaction and response to this movie. Guys started out excited to watch a sports movie with their sugar momma and left a little let down from a sports stand point. Whereas, the chicks were mad that they couldn’t watch The Notebook again because it wasn’t their night to pick the movie, but in the end they loved this movie because they got to be emotional and shed a tear or two over a truly heartwarming story.

Overall, I give it 2.5/5 Claws

Hit us up at clawandnussreviews@gmail.com with hate mail, love letters, questions, and comments. We appreciate your feedback and follow us on twitter @ClawtomicBAUM for daily movie quotes!

And I’m out,

-0 The Claw

0 comments:

Post a Comment

 
Copyright 2009 The CLAWtomic BAUM Movie Reviews. All rights reserved.
Free WordPress Themes Presented by EZwpthemes.
Bloggerized by Miss Dothy