The Blind Side - White lady saves the day & Sandy scoops a gong

I’m not sure whether Sandra Bullock really deserved her Worst Actress gong at the Razzies for her performance in All About Steve, but if the Razzie folk were a tad uncharitable in giving her the Golden Raspberry then this year’s Oscar voters were remarkably generous in handing her the Best Actress award for The Blind Side.

The film’s based on the true story of a wealthy white Southerner, Leigh Anne Tuohy, who rescued a disadvantaged black teenager, Michael Oher (played by Quinton Aaron), took him into her home, adopted him, and propelled him towards stardom on the American football field.

It’s certainly a heartwarming tale and Bullock delivers a big, ballsy performance as the indomitable Tuohy – but Oscar-worthy? What were they thinking? Sure, Sandy’s a great trooper and much loved, but the $250million the film – a big hit in America’s conservative heartland - has made at the US box-office probably came into the equation too. Perhaps the sight of the white lady saving the day (as this spoof poster has it) also swayed them. If so, is this a case of Hollywood displaying its own blind side?

On general release from 26th March.

Glitz, guilt and shame: what this year’s Oscar race says about America.

Jason Best

A film critic for over 25 years, Jason admits the job can occasionally be glamorous – sitting on a film festival jury in Portugal; hanging out with Baz Luhrmann at the Chateau Marmont; chatting with Sigourney Weaver about The Archers – but he mostly spends his time in darkened rooms watching films. He’s also written theatre and opera reviews, two guide books on Rome, and competed in a race for Yachting World, whose great wheeze it was to send a seasick film critic to write about his time on the ocean waves. But Jason is happiest on dry land with a classic screwball comedy or Hitchcock thriller.