“‘The Blind Side’ writes a new playbook”
In today’s LA Times:
In one of the more extraordinary box-office stories of the year, writer-director John Lee Hancock’s movie about Baltimore Ravens lineman Michael Oher — who as a homeless black teen was taken in and nurtured by a well-off, churchgoing white couple — nearly toppled the smash sequel “The Twilight Saga: New Moon” at multiplexes in both films’ second weekend of release. Its ticket sales grew by 18% — the first time this year that a movie in wide release saw its domestic gross grow on its second weekend — while those for the teen vampire drama plummeted by 70%.
“The Blind Side” has surpassed $100 million in domestic sales, with $200 million- plus now considered a certainty by executives at distributor Warner Bros. Independent studio Alcon Entertainment financed the movie at a cost of just $35 million.
This is a huge hit, extremely rare for a movie that opened on as many screens as it did to increase B.O. its second week of release. Here’s one stat why:
On its first weekend, nearly 60% of attendees were women, who also turned out in droves to see Bullock in this summer’s hit romantic comedy “The Proposal.”
But it appears that the audience for “The Blind Side” broadened after the holiday, driven by extraordinary word of mouth (it was only the second film this year, along with “Up,” to garner an A-plus grade from moviegoers, according to market research firm CinemaScore).
“We saw a lot of families coming together over the holiday weekend,” said Bagby.
But apart from the strong, true story high-concept — rich white family takes in African-American youth, supporting him as he goes through high school, then college, then the NFL — what is going on here?
Hancock, whose previous movie “The Alamo” was a critical and commercial dud, said he was always confident the story would have wide appeal, particularly because he labored not to make its protagonists — Bullock plays the Memphis decorator, Leigh Anne Tuohy, who rescues Oher — cut-out caricatures.
“I felt the movie would play as well in New York as it would in Portland as in Tallahassee,” Hancock said. “There may be some aspects to the real life of the Tuohys — they’re a Christian family that’s portrayed as normal, which Hollywood doesn’t have a great track record with. Hollywood tends to be very lazy in its portrayal of a lot of would-be stereotypes. Whether it’s Southern Christian families or New York cab drivers.
“They’re a Christian family that’s portrayed as normal, which Hollywood doesn’t have a great track record with.” True that. A lot of my Christian friends complain about the horrible stereotyping of people of faith in the movies. But in this screenplay, written by Hancock, he took the time and effort to draft characters with multiple layers, including their own flaws:
“There’s an easy, lazy way to do it, which is, just rely on stereotypes and throw it into theaters. I hope the movie dashed that stereotype in some ways, that Leigh Anne has to be the Church Lady from ‘Saturday Night Live’ or something.”
Terry Mattingly, a religion columnist for Scripps Howard News Service and the director of the Christian-oriented Washington Journalism Center, believes that “The Blind Side” is working with audiences because the film’s Christian back story is neither gratuitous nor didactic.
“What makes a movie like this important to me is that it doesn’t slap people in the face with religion,” Mattingly said. “Most films from Hollywood that involve faith take out all the details — it’s just vague and mushy or it’s negative religious stereotypes.
“But ‘The Blind Side’ is a real movie. And then it has another factor: showing respect for religious motivations and emotions. So you have people lining up.”
One big lesson here for us as screenwriters: Dig deep into our characters so that their unique qualities and voice emerge, enabling us to imbue them with life, spirit, and soul.
Who’s seen The Blind Side? What’s your reaction to the movie?
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