Bullock's Blind Side beats Moon, Oscar Buzz begins

It is the kind of build up you can’t market or manufacture. Ironically, The Blind Side starring Sandra Bullock seemed destined to be trounced by the latest in the Twilight series, New Moon. But after holding tough on the first weekend, The Blind Side pulled close to even with Twilight in its second week out and now has taken a clear lead in its third week coming in at $6.8 million on Friday over Twilight’s $5.2 million gross.

It is a rare accomplishment. The Blind Side is entirely story driven and has gone from second place in the box office sweepstakes to number one in its third week, beating out two big budget blockbusters in the process (New Moon and 2012). It is true that Blind Side benefited from weak new entries on week two (Old Dogs and Ninja Assassin) and better but still tepid performances in week three (Brothers and Armored). Nevertheless, The Blind Side would not be able to stay on top of the movie going heap if not for its compelling story about destitute Michael Oher, who surmounted the worst possible odds to become a professional football player with the help of Leigh Anne Touhy played by Sandra Bullock.

It is even more remarkable when you factor in the difficulty of marketing a sports film which notoriously cuts into audience appeal since a significant portion of the population doesn’t particularly care about sports, or may not care about the sport being portrayed. But football is only a backdrop in the telling of Michael Oher’s journey. The heart of the story revolves around the Touhy family’s selflessness in helping Michael Oher and Michael’s courage and strength to overcome great odds. It is an unusual story about the stark contrast between two economic worlds and it is even more unusual because it is true.

It appears that The Blind Side’s tale of giving will stay in wide release until Christmas and it is the stuff of Hollywood movie lore. The Blind Side has blindsided moviegoers with the perfect holiday message.

And as if there wasn’t enough to give this movie a second and third life, buzz has already begun about a best actress Oscar nomination for Sandra Bullock. Her capture of Leigh Anne Touhy warrants it, although the academy typically shuns any inkling of commercialism and Bullock has built a solid career on flat out commercial successes, including this summer’s “The Proposal” which brought in $164 million. Even the quickly forgotten “All About Steve” which was resoundingly beaten down by critics brought in $34 million.

However, Bullock’s resume is wide ranging, having turned in much deeper performances in Premonition, The Lake House and her critically acclaimed performance of Nelle Harper Lee in the Truman Capote saga “Infamous”. Sandra Bullock’s nomination for one of the top performances by a female actress in 2009 would be deserved irrespective of her previous portrayals.

Equally likely is a nomination for best picture. If the goal of a movie is to move its audience, then consideration has to be given to a film that brings grown men to tears.