MEMPHIS, WE HAVE A PROBLEM: COUNT THE THINGS WRONG WITH THE “BLIND SIDE” TRAILER
If you’ve devoured Michael Lewis’s endlessly fascinating The Blind Side (as we have) and followed the amusing updates of cameos by Saban, the Orgeron, et al in the upcoming film adaptation (ditto), then you’ve probably been waiting with bated breath for the film’s wide release in November. If that’s the case, then Chris Mottram is going to throw some very cold water on those dreams, for he’s got the film’s trailer up over at Mr. Irrelevant, and . . . well, see for yourself:
Got that? Did you count up all the things that looked wrong? Good, now check the answer key after the jump and let’s see how you did:
1. It’s all about Sandra Bullock. Not that the woman Bullock plays, Leigh Anne Tuohy, wasn’t an integral part of the story Lewis told in his book; she worked as hard as, if not harder than, anyone to lift Michael Oher up out of poverty. But she wasn’t the main character in the book; she looks like she’s going to be the main character in the movie. And that probably means that . . .
2. We’ve got another white-woman-saves-poor-aimless-black-people story on our hands. You could, if you were so inclined, condense The Blind Side down to that very cursory description, and to some extent film adaptations can only ever be stripped-down, USA Today versions of the books on which they’re based, but still, The Blind Side was so much deeper and more complex than that. We could’ve gotten at least an attempt at translating that complexity to the screen, but instead it looks like what we’re going to get is a lot more along the lines of Sandra Bullock being, in the words of Jack Donaghy, “Michelle Pfeiffer to your angry black kid who learns that poetry is just another way to rap.”
3. The “You threaten my son, you threaten me” scene. Is my memory of the book completely faulty, or did that never actually happen? Someone telling Mike Oher to “sleep with one eye open”? What are your cheap gangsta theatrics doing in my peanut butter?
4. The use of The Fray’s “How to Save a Life” in the first part of the trailer. Of the grown men I’ve known who have ever expressed any affinity for that song (or The Fray in general), all of them fell into at least one of two categories: a) Guys who had at least circumstantial evidence against their heterosexuality and b) guys who played it on their guitars so they’d look brooding and sensitive enough to pull in chicks. I’ve kind of gotten off topic here, but the point is The Fray has no place in any film that purports to be about sports.
Bright spots? Well, Quinton Aaron looks suitably mountain-sized to pass as Michael Oher (no mean feat), and Sandra Bullock is smokin’ hot as a blonde. And there’s always the cameos by Saban and Orgeron to look forward to. (Window treatments FTW!) Otherwise, it looks suspiciously like we’ve got some heavy football movie/chick flick miscegenation going on here, and the outlook, as the Magic 8-Ball might say, is not good. We’ll have to save the final verdict for November 20, of course, but this grand jury is still prepared to at least hand down an indictment.
Cross-posted at Hey Jenny Slater.
1
WarChiziken says:
that movie trailer sure makes me want to put on a giant negro suit and go push a grocery cart pass Sandra Bullock’s house
she is definitely hot in blonde
August 4th, 2009 at 11:08 am
2
charlie says:
easy, man
August 4th, 2009 at 11:13 am
3
johnny douche says:
No way a hot blonde in that dress goes into a ghetto and does not make a gang bang porn. At least that what I’ve gathered from all the interracial gang bang porn I’ve been researching.
August 4th, 2009 at 11:21 am
4
brandon says:
once i saw sandra bullock’s horse face in the trailer, i knew the movie would butcher the actual happenings and the book. she has no business even attempting to convey what Oher’s story means to football. OKAYY KILL HERRRR!!
i’ll probably still watch the movie, though.
August 4th, 2009 at 11:25 am
5
chg says:
Most Hollywood directors aren’t smart or confident enough to leave a book alone and translate it to film without severely altering it.
“This was a bestseller for months on end, critically acclaimed, and managed to captivate diehard football fans and people who’s knowledge of the game is so limited they think Notre Dame still matters? That’s ok I guess, but imagine how incredible it will be once I improve it.’
August 4th, 2009 at 11:27 am
6
jacketexan says:
So is this a chick flick disguised as a football movie, or a football movie disguised as a chick flick?
August 4th, 2009 at 11:41 am
7
Lawrence says:
#1 and #2 are the reasons why I will NOT watch this film. As an African American, I’m tired of seeing these films. BTW, who told you “negro suit” was okay WarChizikens?
August 4th, 2009 at 11:42 am
8
jacketexan says:
I only count 17 seconds of footballish activity and only 1 hit.
August 4th, 2009 at 11:45 am
9
This Guy says:
What you’ve got to understand (note I didn’t say “what you’ve got to not be pissed off about”) is this has nothing to do with liking the book, trying to “improve” the book, or even trying to make a good movie. What you’ve seen here is a business decision-the producers know it’ll be easier to get men to watch a football-themed chick flick than women to watch a sports film, they know that the other genre can mean $50 million in this case, and they want the money. Trust me, I’m a film student.
August 4th, 2009 at 11:54 am
10
Rock Throwing Peasant says:
Well, it could be because she’s a “star” and the trailer is trying to make as large an appeal as possible. If they figure they have football fans involved, they need to sell it to chicks who don’t want to sit through a football film. So, it is possible it’s not a total mess. Then again, some still refer to “Jerry Maguire” as a sports film, so….
I guess we’ll have to wait and see. What a shame they couldn’t give it to someone who can make a decent sports movie. “The Natural” got sappy, at times, but kept focus on the sport, the odds of making it, etc.
August 4th, 2009 at 11:56 am
11
Brian says:
On the other hand, It might make more people read the actual book, because they were living under a rock, etc.
August 4th, 2009 at 12:00 pm
12
Ramblin' Jeff says:
Not only is Bullock hot as a blonde, but she pulls off a Southern accent without sounding stupid or overly twangy… Pretty rare in Hollywood flicks.
Hopefully this movie is being advertised as more chick flick-y than it actually is. I don’t think that’s the case, but I’m hoping.
August 4th, 2009 at 12:01 pm
13
Megatron Jones says:
Rich Brooks thinks this is bullshit.
August 4th, 2009 at 12:02 pm
14
Billy From Baton Rouge says:
Am I the only one who noticed that the Tuohy’s daughter in real life is actually way hotter than the actress playing her in the movie?
August 4th, 2009 at 12:03 pm
15
Stan Gable says:
Are we banning Warchiziken? EBSBS…the perfect place to “chill” free speech!
….it was in awful bad taste, Chiziken……
August 4th, 2009 at 12:07 pm
16
the ex-croominator says:
My first fear is that all those coach cameos were going to end up on the cutting room floor (Hollywood editor: “Eh, no one’s going to care who coaches what except those SEC crazies”). Fear was assuaged a bit when I caught a glimpse of Phat Phil toward the end (as Big Mike totes Sean Jr. over his head in the house).
August 4th, 2009 at 12:10 pm
17
Johnny says:
#5 Sandra Bullock has boobs?
August 4th, 2009 at 12:17 pm
18
Crabapple Buck says:
Sandra Bullock is from Texas if I recall, so the southern accent shouldn’t be too tough to pull off. Yes, she is hot as a blonde.
Producers, being the money making guys they are, know that a chick flick revolving around football is a license to print money.
August 4th, 2009 at 12:18 pm
19
justanotherbuckeye says:
#6,
Wouldn’t it be great if these movies/stories never had to exist? Also, just a pet peeve of mine, but “who” grants chiziken authority to say what he said? Poor taste or not I believe that authority resides within chiziken(man does that sound dumb when you put “chiziken” into it).
August 4th, 2009 at 12:24 pm
20
PW says:
Seriously Chiziken? It’s “past” Sandra Bullock’s house. Think before you post.
August 4th, 2009 at 12:51 pm
21
bama_buck says:
Don’t forget the cliched scenes of the previously austere, whitebread family appropriating african american lingo and gestures.
That movie with Queen Latifah and Steve Martin comes to mind, and chills my soul. Bleh.
August 4th, 2009 at 12:53 pm
22
buddy randolph says:
Holy Friday Night Lights double (triple?) dip…. Charles Billingsley and Bo Miller, confirmed. And if that’s not Shelby Saracen at the :41 mark, I’ll eat my hat.
August 4th, 2009 at 12:53 pm
23
Jason says:
That trailer taught me nothing about the evolution of the left tackle position in the NFL. And you can keep Sandra Bullock. Was Ashley Judd already booked or something?
August 4th, 2009 at 1:35 pm
24
Harris says:
This movie is going to feature white people dancing awkwardly to hip hop and/or Motown. Can’t we just once have a movie in which interactions between white characters and black characters doesn’t devolve into thinly veiled noblesse oblige?
And leave the man alone; “Giant negro suit” was funny. Don’t-know-shit-about-comedy cracka-ass crackas.
August 4th, 2009 at 1:39 pm
25
Sundawg says:
PW, it’s “passed” - past is time-related; passed is motion.
Doug, don’t hate Ms. Bullock or her hubby will come looking for you.
August 4th, 2009 at 1:39 pm
26
col reb says:
why has no one commented on ti mcgraw’s handsome and completely natural-looking manwig? HO-LEE CRAP.
August 4th, 2009 at 1:44 pm
27
Kevin says:
Why is movie-Michael attending an elementary school? His real classmate was the Touhy daughter, not the little kid.
I do hope they include the scene where some defensive lineman was yapping too much, and Michael drove his ass right off the field and onto the bus. I also hope the footage of his SEC recruiting trips resembles those of Jesus Shuttlesworth.
August 4th, 2009 at 1:57 pm
28
Jerkwheat says:
and what is this “Wingate Christian School” nonsense? YOU TOO GOOD FOR HOLLYWOOD, BRIARCREST?!?
August 4th, 2009 at 1:57 pm
29
PeayHog says:
#8
Has the phrase “Trust me. I’m a film student.” ever been written before?
August 4th, 2009 at 2:22 pm
30
MCab says:
Given the story’s location, the music in the trailer should’ve been Juicy J’s “Like a Pimp.” Which I myself play on guitar in order to seem sensitive to the ladies . . .
August 4th, 2009 at 2:25 pm
31
Geaux Irish says:
At 2:20, where Michael is carrying the daughter through the house, is that Fulmer in the suit?
August 4th, 2009 at 2:44 pm
32
Signal to Noise says:
You can smell the potential for fail a mile away. I did note “the potential,” because this wasn’t a trailer where you could just know it was going to be awful right off the bat. There are indicators of suck.
Hollywood just cannot leave anything good alone. #2 is what will likely piss me off most about the movie. If it is more from Tuohy’s POV, I will be livid.
August 4th, 2009 at 2:48 pm
33
DAve says:
@Geaux Irish: It’s definitely him. Or Fred Thompson in a fat suit.
August 4th, 2009 at 2:52 pm
34
twogreattastes says:
We all know details about the evolution of the left tackle position and the changing face of college football recruiting would kill this film’s commercial potential. This movie could be one of two things: a “based on a true story” human interest piece or a documentary. The book took care of the documentation, so they’re going to go with the former.
Let us not forget that pile of shit Jerry McGuire. It was a chick flick from the word go. But, it had some football in it, so the women could talk their boyfriends/husbands into seeing it. And the men agreed, partially out of the hope that it might be a decent football movie, but mostly because they wanted to get some.
August 4th, 2009 at 3:39 pm
35
WhiteSpeedReceiver says:
Sooner or later, everyone’s brain will be well-tuned enough that the second a football movie or tv show comes on we’ll jump to head to the door. Assuming that we don’t vomit first,of course.
IT’S ALL PANDERING CRAP, PEOPLE!!!
August 4th, 2009 at 3:52 pm
36
AERose says:
“PW, it’s “passed” – past is time-related; passed is motion.”
Nope. “Passed” is a past-tense verb, but what Chiziken’s sentence calls for is an adverb (a modifier for “push”), hence “past.”
August 4th, 2009 at 4:07 pm
37
chg says:
To the film student, I completely understand that it is a business decision. I simply think it is a bad business decision.
One would expect a non-fiction novel that weaves vignettes about the evolution of the left tackle position into the story would struggle to become a mainstream hit, but it succeeded because of the quality of both the story and the writing.
The LOTR series is an example of what can happen when you get someone that loves the source material and stay out the way. Retrospectively, it seems like those movies couldn’t fail, but imagine selling a sprawling, complex (by Hollywood standards), fantasy epic with elves dwarves, and hobbits (?), no primary love story and legions of hardcore fans that will analyze every decision under a microscope to an executive. That took an unorthodox investment, and it paid off financially and critically for the studio.
Whoever made the decision here is a middling talent who would rather take the safe route to get either a middling success or conventional failure rather than find someone who understood the material and go for a potential home run. It’s the same kind of thinking that leads to runs between the tackles on 3rd and 6 and punts on 4th and inches from the 36, and it is generally wrong in both worlds.
August 4th, 2009 at 5:34 pm
38
Lawrence says:
Hey all,
‘07 MFA in screenwriting grad of the UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television here. #34 is absolutely right, but in order for things to change, ticket goers have to complain to the studios about what they want to see. On one hand, the first thing professors tell screenwriters about adaptations is that you have NO obligation to the book. In some cases, that works well. Not many people actually read the Wizard of Oz or the Color Purple, or even the Godfather, but they’ll looked upon as film classics better than the book. The problem is when you take rich material that is in the book, and create formulaic crap because you’re trying to hit all of the demos. The blonde taming the black brute is as old as King Kong, if not older. And this is nothing but a 2009 version of it. Which is sad because the book was a human story. But realize, as the film student says, studio execs like to go to formula because they don’t want to be ex-studio execs. BTW, when Spencer writes his EDSBS book and I’m assigned to it, he will be portrayed by Barkevious Mingo.
August 4th, 2009 at 5:49 pm
39
MCab says:
Wiki says Tuberville is also in it. The director did shoot The Rookie and The Alamo, for what it’s worth.
August 4th, 2009 at 6:30 pm
40
Kecalf Bailey says:
Of all the things I’ve read on this website in the past 3+ years “giant negro suit” is the one that rubs people the wrong way?
I’m more offended that it seems to be a pretty static portrayal of Michael Oher as compared to Sandra Bullock’s character, who I couldn’t really care less about. Nobody would care at all if it wasn’t for Oher.
Call me when one of the chicks from Entourage stars in a film about Chris Rainey.
August 4th, 2009 at 6:44 pm
41
Billy Bob says:
god, The Alamo was fucking horrible.
I cried during The Rookie, though.
August 4th, 2009 at 8:46 pm
42
yoyofutbawl says:
10
Sandra Bullock is from somewhere down here. I saw her late last Friday in Tybee Island at AJ’s Dockside, where she is filming some kinda Disney flick with Greg Kinnear & Miley Cyrus.
She ain’t no Mrs Ex Tom Cruise/Mrs Keith Urban, however. Not even near.
August 4th, 2009 at 8:59 pm
43
Brian says:
You know its a FAIL when Tim McGraw is in a lead role. That’s how you know its pandering. High brow pandering, but pandering nonetheless.
August 4th, 2009 at 9:47 pm
44
Three Days of Orange says:
It also could be that the trailer is doing most of the pandering. The movie may not be as - ahem - overt.
That seems to be the case with newspaper headlines at least.
Also, not that it’s earned, but I give War Chizikin the benefit of the “irony-is-taken-for-granted” doubt. I think it’s the least we can do for readers of this particular blog. And after all, Auburn fans are masters of painful irony.
August 4th, 2009 at 10:32 pm
45
Brizzle says:
I don’t care what yall say I think her accent sounds shitty.
August 4th, 2009 at 10:55 pm
46
allaha says:
WarChiziken -
“I disagree with what you have to say but will fight to the death to protect your right to say it.” I would second Voltaire’s position — except I agree with you that Bullock looks hot in blonde.
August 4th, 2009 at 11:20 pm
47
Holly says:
Speaking as an Actual Hollywood Editor, why in the BLUE HELL will they not just turn this sucker over to me. That is all.
August 5th, 2009 at 1:57 am
48
Josh says:
If you want to see a much better movie that has football in it, go see Big Fan when it comes out in theaters in September. It may not center around football, but it’s a lot less cheesier than this turd…
August 5th, 2009 at 5:50 am
49
WhiteSpeedReceiver says:
@Miss Holly,
They’re going to bring you in to do the multimake that combines this with another predictable attempt at a football movie: The Blind Titans.
August 5th, 2009 at 7:10 am
50
arlo says:
“Not only is Bullock hot as a blonde, but she pulls off a Southern accent without sounding stupid or overly twangy… Pretty rare in Hollywood flicks.”
She grew up in Virginia, her dad’s from Bama, and she went to school in one of the Carolinas.
August 5th, 2009 at 7:41 am
51
panapet red says:
Was it the kid or Oher ripping the fart at 2:20? I still can’t figure it out after multiple plays.
August 5th, 2009 at 8:58 am
52
Stan Gable says:
Actually, Yoyoufutbawl, Sandra has a house on Tybee Island, she is not in the movie that is filming there.
Revenge of the Nerds is the best football/reference movie out there…but I am biased, of course….
August 5th, 2009 at 9:14 am
53
KJ says:
It doesnt look like the scene in the book where Oher titty fucks Tuohy’s daughter made it into the movie. I’m dissapointed.
August 5th, 2009 at 10:06 am
54
thebunkis says:
hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha
August 5th, 2009 at 11:45 am
55
BKDawg says:
Looks like a straight to Lifetime three-hankie special.
I was most disappointed that the swing-set scene didn’t become an inadvertent homage to the one in “Young Frankenstein”. “Weeeeee….”
I also wonder if Miss “must save the negroes” would’ve picked up dude had he not had 1st Round Draft potential written all over him. Is this really how Ole Miss recruits?
I can see it paired at a discount on Amazon with “The Legend of Bagger Vance.”
August 5th, 2009 at 12:00 pm
56
BrooklynGator says:
that laugh bled right out into the border
August 5th, 2009 at 12:55 pm
57
Tommy J says:
I’m going to be sick….
“You threaten my son, you threaten me”
I’m sick….
August 5th, 2009 at 8:16 pm
58
Grampa Fug says:
In Lewis’s book there was some, ah, “extra chemistry” synapsing between Mrs. Tuohy and Nick Saban when he came to call. One wonders if that will be depicted and if so, exactly how.
Saban: (speaking to Oher but gazing directly at Mrs. Tuohy) “Michael, we’d love to see you COME to Baton Rouge. We’ll take extra good CARE of him, Mrs. Tuohy. You’d be WELCOME to visit too, of course, to watch as he tries out for a VARIETY of POSITIONS. You could COME as OFTEN as you like.”
Oher: “Can I have any jersey number I want, Coach?”
Saban: (never taking eyes away from Mrs. Tuohy) “Michael, you can have MULTIPLE numbers if you have enough STAMINA.”
Tuohy boy: “Can I have my own locker in the dressing room, Coach Saban?”
Mrs. Tuohy: (blushing, momentarily averting eyes from Saban but looking back helplessly, er need like that of a junkie) “Now Fauntleroy, Coach Anal . . . ah (slight gag, shortness of breath), Coach Saban isn’t here to have a conversation with you.”
Saban: (exerting Draculaesque eye power mind control over Mrs. Tuohy) “Relative to our process, Mrs. Tuohy, we believe Michael would be a key part of the LSU family right off the BAT.”
Mrs. Tuohy: ” >>>+++*+++<<< "
August 5th, 2009 at 11:59 pm
59
pfhokie Abides says:
Looks horrible. I don’t know where to start. It’s like “Different Strokes” style of thing I thought we were done with a decade ago.
As for Bullock, I’ve always liked her but she looks poorly cast. Then again, I can’t think of anyone that isn’t poorly cast in this “feel good” movie. Maybe they should have gotten Jessica Simpson.
Sandra Bullock is from Arlington Virginia (or that’s where she went to high school). She then matriculated at East Carolina before heading to LA. Northern Virginians don’t really have southern accents.
August 7th, 2009 at 5:49 am
60
MCab says:
It’d be a Lifetime movie if Tim McGraw reprised his role from Friday Night Lights.
Oh, and to create a bigger fusion, it should be The Blind Radio Titans.
August 7th, 2009 at 11:52 pm