From Homeless to NFL: The Blindside Story

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"The Blindside" is a sports/comedy film directed by John Lee Hancock. Warner Brother’s Productions released the film in 2009. The movie is based on the book "The Blindside: Evolution of the Game" (2006) by Michael Lewis. The movie depicts Michael "Big Mike" Oher (Quinton Aaron), a sixteen-year-old homeless African American teenager wandering the streets of Memphis, Tennessee. He is six feet tall and weighs about two hundred pounds. He is the youngest of twelve children and was raised in the projects. He meets Leigh Anne Tuohy (Sandra bullock), a wealthy white woman, who along with her family, accept Michael as one of their own. The Tuohy's adopt him and with their help he becomes an All-American Football Player and first-round NFL draft pick …show more content…

Her husband, Sean Tuohy (Tim McGraw) is a sports commentator and a business man. They have a beautiful daughter named Collins (Lily Collins) and a smart cracking son named S J (Jae Head). Collins and SJ attend Wingate Christian Private School. The school’s head football coach is named Burt Cotton (Ray McKinnon). Burt sees something special in Michael when he spots him one afternoon at a local boys and girls club playing basketball. Michael amazed him by his size, he towered over all the teenagers that were playing against him. After speaking to Michael, he finds out that he does not attend school and lives on the streets. He encourages the school’s principle to give Michael a chance to attend Wingate because of his athletic potential. The principle agrees and gives Michael a full scholarship to attend Wingate. Leigh Anne and Sean first spot Michael picking up leftover popcorn off the gym floor during one of Collins volleyball games. On their drive home, they see him again, walking in the rain looking for somewhere to sleep. Leigh Anne offers him to stay the night in their upscale home and he hesitantly accepts. They discover that Michael has been living in the street since the age of seven when child protective services separated him from his crack-cocaine addicted mother. Immediately after being put in a foster home, he ran away to live on the streets and spent his time begging …show more content…

They both depict stories about African American troubled teens who are rescued by kind strangers. Both directors depict their movies with intimate, real, emotions. They are heartwarming tales about overcoming difficulties in life and acquiring a stroke of good fortune from some helping hands. They are unashamedly, tissue hugging movies that anyone can appreciate. They have perfect balance of compassion, comedy, and drama. Although the films do have cliché, familiar moments which get annoying they still encompass Michael's and Precious’ special

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