‘The Blind Side’

If it weren't a true story, it would be tough to believe.

And, truth be told, there are more than a few credibility-stretching moments in "The Blind Side."

A natural for the holiday season -- and the football season -- this fact-based crowd-pleaser appeals to the better angels of our natures as it recounts how Baltimore Ravens rookie tackle Michael Oher rose from virtual homelessness to football stardom.

Of course, he had more than a little help from a seemingly unlikely source: force-of-nature Southern belle Leigh Anne Tuohy.

As played by the ever-appealing Sandra Bullock, she's yet another reminder that Hollywood loves an inspiring story of black achievement -- especially one with a juicy role for a white movie star.

That said, it's a tribute to "The Blind Side" that it does manage to tackle a few gritty issues along the way.

Credit writer-director John Lee Hancock, who returns to the sports genre for the first time since his 2002 breakthrough, "The Rookie."

That one was an extra-base hit.

And while "The Blind Side" isn't exactly a game-changer, it's good for plenty of heart-warming, stand-up-and-cheer moments, along with the obligatory lump-in-the-throat ones.

When we first encounter Oher (Quinton Aaron), he's one of society's innumerable castoffs, son of a crack-addict mother who's been a ward of the state for years.

But this gentle giant has the kind of athletic ability that attracts attention at an upscale private school in his Memphis hometown. At least from the football coach (a comically spluttering Ray McKinnon), if not from most of his testy teachers and fellow students.

The lone exceptions at school: his sensitive science teacher (an earnest Kim Dickens) and precocious SJ Tuohy (scene-stealer Jae Head), who befriends "Big Mike," advising him on the proper way to approach the little kids on the playground without scaring them off.

Yes, Oher can seem intimidating.

But nothing intimidates SJ's mom Leigh Anne, who spots Michael walking alongside the road, shivering in a T-shirt and shorts, as the family heads home following the school's Thanksgiving pageant. So she orders her accommodating husband Sean (country star Tim McGraw, once again demonstrating a pleasing, easygoing screen presence) to stop the car, turn around and offer him a ride.

But Oher has nowhere to go. So he winds up heading home with the Tuohys -- and finding a new home with them.

There's plenty of room at their palatial residence, testimony to Sean's success as a fast-food magnate and Leigh Anne's equal achievements as an interior decorator. Besides, Leigh Anne loves a challenge. And there's something about Oher that appeals to her take-charge nature -- something that, as she discovers, will transform her life along with Big Mike's.

Along the way, Oher finds other helping hands, notably a feisty tutor (the always-welcome Kathy Bates) who's determined to whip him into shape academically -- so he can accept one of numerous college scholarship offers he receives once he starts living up to his potential at left tackle.

In adapting Michael Lewis' book, "Blind Side: Evolution of a Game," Hancock occasionally bogs down on the field, grinding out football sequences that provide rousing action but do little to advance the story. Similarly, when there's a choice between hard-hitting and heart-warming, "The Blind Side" goes for the latter.

As a result, the movie's few stark sequences -- notably one in which Leigh Anne tracks down Oher's end-of-her-rope mother (an affecting Adriane Lenox) -- stick out "like a fly in milk," to use Leigh Anne's own homey analogy.

Still, there's plenty to like in "The Blind Side," from the smug, thinly veiled racism of Leigh Anne's prosperous friends (and Leigh Anne's expectedly indignant reaction) to Sean's response to Miss Sue's liberal politics: "Who ever thought," he drawls, "we would have a black son before we knew a Democrat?"

As that black son, Aaron conveys poignant yearning and determined resignation in equally effective measure.

But "The Blind Side," not surprisingly, is Bullock's movie, and she scores with a winning portrayal that's equal parts sassy self-righteousness and take-charge warmth.

That's probably not the way it should be, but in Hollywood -- as in football -- you have to play the game according to the rules.

Contact movie critic Carol Cling at ccling@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0272.