The King Speaks: How to Make a Proper Sports Movie

Hey folks. It's been a while since I wrote something and even longer since the last (and first) installment of "The King Speaks." Sadly, I've already used the "lack of reviews is my review" joke, but the very low quality of movies during this post-summer lull has really taken it's toll on me. Couple that with having actual school work to do and working on my own short movie (I promise to post links when it's done and I promise you'll be underwhelmed), and I just haven't had the time to make it to the movie theater. Anyway, after Thanksgiving linner, I was in the mood for an uplifting, semi-cliche, family movie and The Blind Side was everything I wanted.

Now, that probably wasn't the best way to sell the film to you, but stick with me for a moment while I explain why it's not the normal cliched sports crap we usually see. The modern sports movie involves a rag-tag band of misfits who could never play together or a rag-tag individual who has a different skin color/hairstyle than the other players. Eventually, they are all united by a coach who plays by nobody's rules, not even his own, and they make it to the big game. Either they win the big game, or (more often nowadays) they lose the big game, but are winners in life. Apply this formula to Remember the Titans, Coach Carter, The Express, or Friday Night Lights and you'll see that they're all pretty much the same movie.

Enter The Blind Side, which from the trailer, looked to fit this mold, with the addition of a fiesty, southern Sandra Bullock (more on her in a moment). In actuality, TBS is a movie about a character who happens to play sports, rather than about the sport itself. After being mentioned in the first few minutes, sports don't show up again until mid to late second act. This isn't about a football player and his sport. It's about Michael Oher and how his life was changed with the help of a caring family. This isn't about the big game. We aren't even shown the big game, but rather told how it ends. Any time we're given glimpses of a football game, it has a purpose. It shows us who Michael is and how he is growing as a person. What a pleasant change it is to not have to sit through another drawn out, slow-mo, ball in the air climax, but rather get a character driven climax that has nothing to do with football. The movies message had nothing to do with sports (although sports precipitate the message) and that is quite the feat for a sports movie.

It also helps that the movie is anchored by good performances. Newcomer Quinton Aaron plays Michael and does a very good job. He has the tough task of delivering the movie cliched lines and does them in the least cringeworthy way possible. He also does a spot on Michael Oher delivery, and gives the performance without allowing it to become an impersonation. Aaron is good, but the movie dies without Sandra Bullock. I've never been a Bullock fan, and I absolutely crushed her earlier film of '09 (The Proposal) and I would have crushed All About Steve if I had seen it. That being said, she was great in this. For the first time I ever, I viewed her not as Sandra Bullock playing a part, but as Leigh Anne Tuoghy. She is the driving force of the entire movie and delivers a believable performance in a role that could have very easily earned a spot in the cliche Hall of Fame. This performance moved me from "not a fan" to driving her Oscar bandwagon. Yeah, Sandra Bullock is in the Oscar discussion. I'll give you a second to let that sink in.

So there you have it folks, the new formula for sports movies: start the character, and move outward; have a strong presence other than the main character; have a message that isn't sports related; and have strong performances in all the roles, which means never have Dennis Quaid in your movie (I'm looking at you The Express and The Rookie). All that really matters is that The Blind Side is a great movie that you should all go see.