At the start of the movie “The Blind Side”, released in 2009 a video is shown about one of the worst injuries in the history of the NFL. On November 18, 1985, quarterback Joe Theisman’s career ended when his leg was shattered during a tackle where he was surrounded by several Giant’s linemen, putting his leg into a backwards position that considering the video (see below) it is amazing that he still has this leg . Due to this one horrendous leg injury, the NFL changed; creating the need for offensive linemen who were responsible for protecting the quarterback’s blindside.

The story about the movie The Blind Side, starring Sandra Bullock is a true story about a homeless man who is taken in by a rich family and eventually adopted. This is one of those movies that if the story were not true, nobody would have green-lighted the screenplay, because nobody would believe that this could ever have happened. The homeless man was Micheal Oher, a huge 300 pound offensive lineman who would eventually make it to the NFL with the Baltimore Ravens and eventually win the Super Bowl with the team in 2013. Were it not for Sean and Leigh Anne Tuohy, played by Sandra Bullock, Oher would have probably remained homeless for the rest of his life. Oher was raised by a drug addict mother, who was frequently in and out of prison, and despite his huge size and athletic ability he would have never found his true calling as an elite NFL offensive lineman.

In 2008, one year before the release of The Blind Side, Sandra Bullock was known as an actress who had made several good, but never great movies; the best being “Speed”, released in 1994. Most would have thought that she would have continued making mid-level quality movies for the rest of her career, and was not really an Academy Award level actress. Bullock won the best actress Oscar for The Blind Side in 2010, proving that all it takes is one miracle role or opportunity in any career, to prove the critics wrong. Miracles like this one in Bullock’s career are extremely rare and never guaranteed to any actor.

2009 is 11 years ago and Bullock has never gotten a role as good as The Blind Side since, proving once again how rare great acting roles come along for any actor. Just because a well known actor gets one great role, like Julia Roberts in 2000 for “Erin Brockovich”, this never means that lightning will strike twice, regardless of fame or clout. This is also true of the late Mary Tyler Moore who starred in “Ordinary People” in 1980. All movies start with the screenwriter, struggling to write and then re-write a great story that is first noticed by the right people and then, somehow, is made into a movie. This is why great acting roles like The Blind Side are so hard to find, because its not just because of the great writing or great story. It is also about luck and timing.

All the actors in the Blind Side were outstanding, especially the actor Quinton Aaron who played Oher in his first ever movie role. Kathy Bates is also great as the tutor who tries to get Oher’s grades up so he could be accepted into college and Tim McGraw, who plays Leigh Anne’s husband is also outstanding. This film has excellent moments of humor and emotion and I thought was one of the best movies released in 2009. For the few who have never seen The Blind Side, I highly recommend this outstanding movie.

If someone would have asked the best odds maker who ever lived on December 1, 2019, “what are the odds of a global pandemic that in less than 4 months would kill almost 34,000 people, and cause extremely serious damage to the economy of the entire world”, his answer would probably have been, “trillion to 1 odds”. The reason why the odds of something like this happening were so unlikely a short 4 months ago, is because medical advances have been astronomical since the Spanish Flu killed 50 million people in the world, 102 years ago. Medicine has leaped forward since the days of medical treatments that included blood letting. There are agencies, including WHO (The World Health Organization) that were created to prevent viruses like COVID-19 from infecting the world that have been vigilant in preventing viruses like this one.

What we all have right now, is one of the most fast moving and unlikely events in the history of the world.  Almost everyone is either quarantined or staying at home as much as possible. Working from home is now the standard, taxing the internet and servers more than ever before. Who would have ever thought that we would all see every movie theater close?  All gyms are closed, malls are closed, and the phrase “social distancing” the most common phrase. Through it all, there are still people who refuse to follow the common sense edicts that included  avoiding crowds, no doubt causing more people to test positive for this disease.  From the current ongoing pandemic nightmare, the world now is fully aware that it could all end one day. Not from an asteroid or another world war that would involve nuclear weapons, but from a tiny microscopic disease that is measurably more fast moving and deadly than COVID-19.

Against this disaster that has forever changed everything as we knew it before, we have all learned that inevitable losses in the stock market mean nothing against 34,000 people who have died so far and many more thousands who will suffer with this disease in the future. Then add the thousands more who will lose their jobs and businesses that will fail. The entire world is now on the same page. How long will this go on? Will life ever get back to the way it was before this all began?  We all now routinely worry about respirators, lack of hospital supplies and medical professionals. Will we be overwhelmed by this disease beyond the medical resources of countries around the world? For those who have compared this virus to the flu, and claim the media is making too much of this, the alarming growth rate of this virus, mortality rate and the fact that there is no vaccine are the obvious reasons why this is nothing like the flu. This virus has also taught us that we are all the same, regardless of fame, wealth or luck in life. Tom Hanks and his wife have this disease, Prince Charles, Boris Johnson and even Harvey Weinstein have all tested positive. This disease makes no exceptions. Anybody can get it and anybody can die from it.

As far as movies and the loyal readers of this blog, my first thought after all movie theaters have closed was NETFLIX or Amazon prime movies. Unfortunately, I have not found a movie on these two services so far that have inspired me to write another blog entry. Hopefully this will change in the near future and thank you to all who have read any of my movie reviews that I have been compiling for over 5 years.

What else is there to say about this extremely challenging and unusual time in the world other than for all to stay indoors, stay safe and pray that this will all be over soon.

Over the decades since the beginning of the movie industry, many films have been made about alcoholism. Most of these films deal how alcoholism effects the person with this disease and those around them. Fewer movies deal with the reason why the person became an alcoholic in the first place.

The new movie “The Way Back” is about a down and out construction worker Jack Cunningham, played by Ben Affleck who becomes a high school basketball coach, despite being a very heavy drinker. What makes this story great, is because it explains why Jack became a dangerous alcoholic. One reason was because of the problems he had with his father while in high school, when Jack was a great high school basketball player. The other reason is a huge tragedy he shares with his wife Angela, played by Janina Gavankar. Considering the trauma Jack and his wife endured, anyone could easily understand Jack’s problems with alcoholism

The story starts with Jack being hired as the high school basketball coach of same high school where he was the greatest player in team history. At first Jack is very reluctant to take this job, but over time he turns a very bad team with a record of 1-11 into a huge winner. The basketball scenes are outstanding as are the practice sessions, where Jack hammers home the most important basketball concepts, starting with constant trapping and rabid team defense. As with all great stories, nothing is easy, and the twist at the end is very well done. In the history of movies, there has probably never been a better actor to play this part, than Ben Affleck, who has had years of publicized and very severe alcohol problems himself. I agree with many of the critics who believe this is the best acting performance of Affleck’s career. This is a very well done sports movie, one of the best I have ever seen.

The Rotten Tomatoes ratings for this movie are a very high 87% and I agree with this rating and hope, despite the early release of this film, that Affleck receives a best actor nomination.