The Blind Side

Synopsis: Based on the true story of Leigh Anne Tuohy and Sean Tuohy who take in a homeless teenage African-American, Michael Oher. Michael has no idea who his father is and his mother is a drug addict. Michael has had little formal education and few skills to help him learn. Leigh Anne soon takes charge however, as is her nature, ensuring that the young man has every opportunity to succeed. When he expresses an interest in football, she goes all out to help him, including giving the coach a few ideas on how best to use Michael's skills. They not only provide him with a loving home, but hire a tutor to help him improve his grades to the point where he would qualify for an NCAA Division I athletic scholarship. Michael Oher was the first-round pick of the Baltimore Ravens in the 2009 NFL draft.
Director(s): John Lee Hancock
Production: Warner Bros. Pictures
  Won 1 Oscar. Another 7 wins & 30 nominations.
 
IMDB:
7.7
Metacritic:
53
Rotten Tomatoes:
67%
PG-13
Year:
2009
129 min
$255,900,000
Website
8,019 Views


There's a moment of orderly silence

before a football play begins.

Players are in position,

linemen are frozen,

and anything is possible.

Then, like a traffic accident,

stuff begins to randomly collide.

From the snap of the ball

to the snap of the first bone

is closer to four seconds than five.

One Mississippi.

Joe Theismann,

the Redskins quarterback

takes the snap and hands off

to his running back.

Two Mississippi.

It's a trick play, a flea-flicker,

and the running back tosses the ball

back to the quarterback.

Three Mississippi.

Up to now the play's been defined

by the what the quarterback sees.

It's about to be defined

by what he doesn't.

Four Mississippi.

Lawrence Taylor is the best

defensive player in the NFL

and has been from the time he stepped

onto the field as a rookie.

He will also change the game of football

as we know it.

...And we'll look at it

with the reverse angle one more time.

And I suggest if your stomach is weak

you just don't watch ...

Legendary quarterback Joe Theismann

never played another down of football.

Now, y'all would guess

that more often than not

the highest paid player on

an NFL team is the quarterback.

And you'd be right.

What you probably don't know

is that more often than not

the second highest paid player is,

thanks to Lawrence Taylor,

a left tackle.

Because, as every housewife knows,

the first check you write

is for the mortgage

but the second is for the insurance.

And the left tackle's job

is to protect the quarterback

form what he can't see coming.

To protect his blind side.

The ideal left tackle is big,

but a lot of people are big.

He is wide in the butt

and massive in the thighs.

He has long arms, giant hands

and feet as quick as a hiccup.

This is a rare and expensive combination

the need for which can be traced

to that Monday night game

and Lawrence Taylor.

For on that day he not only

altered Joe Theismann's life,

but mine as well.

Mr. Oher?

Mr. Oher?

Do you understand..?

Do you know why I'm here?

To... investigate?

Yes. To investigate.

Im here to investigate your odd...

predicament.

Do you find it odd?

Your predicament?

Michael?...

I dunno.

Can I... can I leave now?

No. You can't.

# Strange face, with your eyes #

# So pale and sincere #

# Underneath, you know well #

# You have nothing to fear #

# For the dreams that came to you #

# when you were young #

# Told of a life where #

# Spring has crawled #

# You would seem so frail #

# In the cold of the night #

# When the armies of emotion #

# Go out to fight #

# But while the earth #

# sinks to its grave #

# You sail to the sky #

# On the crest of a wave #

They said you were the coach.

Burt Cotton.

Tony Hamilton, but everybody

just calls me big Tony.

Hey, Big Mike! Check it out.

Not even locked!

White people are crazy.

I promised my mama Boo, on her deathbed

that I'd get my son Steven outta

public school and into a church school.

I appreciate that, Tony.

But I'm not involved with admissions.

I just figured maybe I'd come

to talk to you,

seeing as you might need some players.

What kind of sport

is he playing?

Anything with a ball.

Boy's good, too.

Classes start in a week. It would

have to be for the next semester.

I know, what you're thinking, Coach.

But, look here, I got money, all right?

See I'm a mechanic at Wilson's Auto

the other side of town.

Look, what if somebody drops out

or moves?

Could they get in then?

"They?"

You only mentioned one son.

That's right, Steven.

But there's another boy.

- Another boy?

- Yeah.

Big Mike.

Sleeps on my couch

from time to time.

It's a bad deal. You know,

his mama's on the crack pipe.

He ain't got nobody else.

He just wanted to come along

for the ride.

- They're here?

- Yeah.

The little one, that's Steven

and the big one...

Big Mike.

Swish!

Mike!

Come on!

Mother of God....

Steven Hamilton's paperwork

looks acceptable to me.

And I believe he would do fine.

- But this other kid...

- Big Mike.

Michael Oher gives us

no reason to believe that,

based on his record,

that he would be successful here.

How bad could it be?

We're not exactly sure how old

he is due to his lack of records.

He has a measured IQ of 80.

Which is 6th percentile.

His grade point average begins with zero.

Zero-point-six.

Everyone passed him along

they gave him D's so they could hand

their problem off to the next school.

He's a brave kid.

For wanting to come here.

For wanting a quality education.

An education denied him by the poor

quality of the schools he's attended.

I tell you most kids

with his background

wouldn't come within two hundred miles

of this place.

Coach Cotton, we understand your interest

in this young man's athletic abilities.

Now, he wouldn't be able to play sports

until he got his grades up anyway.

Forget sports!

Look at the wall.

Christian.

We either take that seriously

or we paint over it.

You don't admit Michael Oher

because of sports,

you admit him

because it's the right thing to do.

Class, this is Mike Oher

and he's new here

so I expect you all

to make him feel welcome.

Mike, just take any empty seat.

This is a quiz based on the information

you learned last year

in your science curriculum.

Don't worry.

It's not gonna be graded.

I just want to see how much

information we need to hit again.

Just answer whatever you know.

Rate this script:5.0 / 2 votes

John Lee Hancock

John Lee Hancock, Jr. (born December 15, 1956) is an American screenwriter, film director, and producer. He is best known for directing the sports drama films The Rookie (2002) and The Blind Side (2009), and the historical drama films Saving Mr. Banks (2013) and The Founder (2016). more…

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Submitted on August 05, 2018

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