"A typically tasteful score from Carter Burwell,
who is probably best known for his work on such artful film as
'Fargo' and 'Kinsey,' also helps the film escape the slough of
schmaltz." - John Beifuss, California Chronicle, November
20, 2009.
"...the film celebrates each step forward with
the languid strings and one-note-at-a-time piano progression of
one of Carter Burwell's most insipid scores." - Aaron Cutler,
Slant Magazine, November 19, 2009.
"Directed by John Lee Hancock and scored beautifully
by Carter Burwell (Where the Wild Things Are, No Country for Old
Men), 'The Blind Side' is easily the best sports-related film of
the year, and probably the best I’ve seen since 'Remember the Titans'." -
Neil Miller, Film School Rejects, November 19, 2009.
Carter's
Notes
This is the true story of Michael Oher and the
family that adopted him. He was a homeless black teenager attending
a Christian school in Memphis when a well-to-do white family gave
him a ride in their car, which led to him living in their home
and getting a tutor, which led to him playing football, which led
to college, which led to him being a first-round draft pick for
the NFL.
John Lee Hancock, with whom I worked on The
Rookie and The Alamo,
wrote the screenplay and directed the film. Like "The Rookie" it
is a fact-based inspirational tale of athletic ability found
in the least likely place. The story, like most true stories,
doesn't fit perfectly into a dramatic structure, and this created
the main challenge of the project. The main character faces almost
no obstacles during the story, other than his own background,
and almost everyone tries to help him every step of the way.
The general good feeling and constant upward motion of the story
threaten to turn the film into treacle, but John steered away
from this by keeping Michael Oher a cipher, and Sandra Bullock
helps by playing Leigh Anne Tuohy, his adopted mom, as forceful
and uningratiating.
I have to admit that, while the story is wonderful,
I didn't immediately want to work on this film. My muse shies away
from warm fuzzy feelings. But John Lee Hancock convinced me that
this was why he wanted to hire me - to keep the feelings unexpressed.
I think we did a reasonable job of this - you have to consider
how much gushier this story might have been - but the job still
required a total absence of irony which I find hard to maintain
week after week. My musical solution was to parcel out the melodies
in small doses, so that the growth of the characters and their
connections develop slowly.
In the end my favorite bit of the film is the end
credit roll which features stills of the real Michael Oher with
his real adopted family, the Tuohys. The simple, unvarnished, unexplained
truth of the story is amazing.
Photos
Film
Info
Directed by John Lee Hancock
Written by John Lee Hancock and Michael Lewis (book)
Produced by Gil Netter, Andrew Kosove, Broderick Johnson
Composed and Orchestrated by Carter Burwell
Music Scoring Mixer: Mike
Farrow
Music Editor: Adam Smalley
Contractor and Conductor: David Sabee
Recorded at Studio X,
Seattle
Mixed at The Body Studio
Starring Sandra Bullock, Quinton Aaron, Tim McGraw,
Kathy Bates
U.S. Release November 17, 2009
Audio Samples
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download an excerpt, or the Flash triangle to stream it.
