"The Blind Side"
A young African American student is taken in by a well-to-do Memphis family who enable him to succeed -- academically and on the football field -- in an inspirational tale based on a true story. The Warner Brothers release was nominated for two Academy Awards including Best Picture, and won the Oscar for Best Actress.
By CBSNews.com producer David Morgan
"The Blind Side"
Michael Oher (Quinton Aaron), a ward of the state after being taken from a drug-addicted mother at age seven, is shuttled from one foster home to another, before being given his first real chance in life when he is accepted into a Christian private school in Memphis. The fact that the strapping 16-year-old nicknamed "Big Mike" would make a powerful addition to the school's sports teams is not a small part of the decision.
"The Blind Side"
A quiet loner, Michael has trouble adjusting to the nearly all-white private school, and has great difficulty with written tests. Most of the teachers have little faith he will succeed. His low G.P.A. -- barely above zero -- also means he has no chance to try out for sports.
"The Blind Side"
One of the few students to befriend him is Sean Tuohy Jr., or "SJ" (Jae Head), who encourages Mike to smile. Sean's mother, Leigh Anne Tuohy (Sandra Bullock), wonders about Mike's family life, and becomes distressed to learn he is basically homeless.
"The Blind Side"
After encountering Michael on the road late at night with nowhere to go, Leigh Anne invites him to stay in her home, an invitation accepted by the rest of her family, who are used to Leigh Anne's forcefulness. "I've seen that look many times," says her husband, Sean (Tim McGraw). "She's about to get her way."
"The Blind Side"
Michael at first appears lost amidst the Tuohys' generosity: he is unsure about joining their meals. But the family easily accepts him, including SJ and his sister Collins (Lily Collins).
"The Blind Side"
When Michael returns to the Hurt Village housing project, rife with drug dealers, he discovers his mother's apartment locked up. His meager ties to his past are broken further.
"The Blind Side"
The generosity of the Tuohys is questioned in some quarters; both well-meaning friends and racist relatives and neighbors wonder aloud about their opening their home and lives to a child from the projects. But Michael is now part of their family, and Leigh Anne refuses to let Michael waste his opportunities.
"The Blind Side"
Leigh Anne likens Michael to Ferdinand the Bull, a gentle giant -- a similarity that becomes obvious once he tries out for the school football team.
"The Blind Side"
When it is apparent the coach is unable to instruct Michael how to use his protective instincts on the field, Leigh Anne steps in (as is her wont) and demonstrates how the other members of the team are stand-ins for his family.
"The Blind Side"
LEIGH ANNE
Tony is your quarterback. You protect his blindside. When you look at him, think of me. How you have my back. How you have his. 'Ompaloompah' here is your tailback. When you look at him, think of SJ and how you'd never let anything or anyone hurt him. Do you understand me?
MICHAEL
What about Mr. Tuohy and Collins?
LEIGH ANNE
I suppose they can be on the team, too.
"The Blind Side"
Mike's performance on the field, once he remembers to use his protective instincts, is exemplary. Video of his plays begins to make the rounds, and college coaches beat a path to their door.
"The Blind Side"
Oscar-winner and Memphis native Kathy Bates ("Misery," "Titanic," ") plays Miss Sue, the tutor who helps Michael raise his academic scores in order to qualify for a football scholarship. She is also not adverse to helping steer Michael's college choice with colorful tall tales involving body parts.
"The Blind Side"
When the NCAA begins to investigate Mike's choice of college, it sows distrust about the recruitment process, and about the very nature of the Tuohys' efforts to make Mike a legal part of their family.
John Lee Hancock
Director and screenwriter John Lee Hancock is best known for 2002's "The Rookie," another winning true-life sports film starring Dennis Quaid. He also wrote the screenplays for Clint Eastwood's "A Perfect World" and "Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil," and was creator of the TV Series "L.A. Doctors." Of "The Blind Side," Hancock said, "Sports, specifically football, was the engine that propelled the story forward, but he could have been a dancer or a pianist -- it wouldn't have made any difference. The journey that Michael and the Tuohy family go on is the heart of the movie."
Sandra Bullock
Sandra Bullock was reluctant to play a character based on a living person, until she spent time with Leigh Anne herself: "How can you explain that kind of energy? By the end of one day with Leigh Anne, I was exhausted. She manages to do what she wants to do in the manner she wants to do it. She doesn't care what it takes; she just gets it done her way. All I can say is, if there were more Leigh Anne Tuohys, the world would be a better-run, more harmonious and more productive place...as long as it was by her rules!
"It was terrifying to think of playing her," Bullock said, "but it was a challenge I couldn't say no to." For her performance, Bullock won the Screen Actors Guild and Golden Globe Awards for Best Actress, and received her first Oscar nomination as well.
Sandra Bullock Photos
The Two Leigh Annes
"They certainly did a good deed in taking in this young man in such a loving and generous way," Bullock said. "But, in turn, he brought out a side of their family that they didn't even realize was missing. The family seemed to have all the success and joy in the world, but when Michael showed up, it was as if he was the final piece to the puzzle."
Quinton Aaron
Quinton Aaron felt some similarities between himself and Oher: "Neither of us knew our fathers growing up. I was the biggest kid in my school; he was the biggest kid in his school. I kept to myself a lot and was more of a quiet, shy kid, and that's pretty much what he was like. I also played some football at one point, but I wasn't good at it."
Hut!
Prior to filming, Aaron underwent seven weeks of extensive training, and lost more than 100 pounds. "I was determined to do anything and everything required, because if you love what you're doing, you are going to give one hundred and ten percent," he said.
Tim McGraw
Playing Sean Tuohy was country music star Tim McGraw, who has also appeared in the films "Friday Night Lights," "Four Christmases," "Flicka" and "The Kingdom." "We needed an actor who would have a real screen presence opposite the whirlwind that is Leigh Anne," said producer Broderick Johnson.
Lily Collins
Lily Collins (with Bullock at the New York premiere of "The Blind Side," Nov. 17, 2009), was born in England and had already begun an acting career as a toddler before moving at age six to the U.S., where she studied at the Youth Academy for Dramatic Arts. As a journalist she has written columns for Elle (U.K.), Seventeen, Teen Vogue and the Los Angeles Times Magazine, and covered the 2008 U.S. Presidential campaign for Nickelodeon. Her credits include the series "90210." She is currently a student at USC majoring in broadcast journalism. The daughter of Phil Collins, she was chosen 2008 "International Model of the Year" by Spain's Glamour Magazine, and one of 20 women named by Maxim magazine as "The Hottest Daughters of Rock Stars" in 2009.
Golden Globes
Sandra Bullock poses with the award for best actress in a motion picture drama for "The Blind Side," backstage at the 67th Annual Golden Globe Awards on Sunday, Jan. 17, 2010, in Beverly Hills, Calif.
SAG Awards
Sandra Bullock poses backstage with the Screen Actors Guild award for Best Leading Actress for her work in "The Blind Side," Saturday, Jan. 23, 2010, in Los Angeles.
A Real "Hollywood Ending"
An All-American at Ole' Miss, Michael Oher holds up a jersey after being selected as the Baltimore Ravens' first round draft pick at Radio City Music Hall April 25, 2009. With him are the Tuohy Family (Collins, Sean, Leigh Anne and Sean Jr.), as well as his brother Marcus and his tutor, Sue Mitchell.
Academy Awards
Accepting the Oscar for Best Actress for "The Blind Side," Sandra Bullock said, "I would like to thank what this film is about for me, which are the moms that take care of the babies and the children no matter where they come from. Those moms and parents never get thanked. I, in particular, failed to thank one. So, if I can take this moment to thank Helga B. for not letting me ride in cars with boys until I was 18 because she was right: I would've done what she said I was gonna do. For making me practice every day when I got home. Piano, ballet, whatever it is I wanted to be. She said to be an artist, you had to practice every day, and for reminding her daughters that there's no race, no religion, no class system, no color, nothing, no sexual orientation that makes us better than anyone else. We are all deserving of love. So, to that trailblazer, who allowed me to have that . . . and this."
Academy Awards
Sandra Bullock has her Best Actress Oscar statuette engraved with her name at the Governors Ball following the 82nd Academy Awards Sunday, March 7, 2010.