REVIEW: The Blind Side

I went to go the The Blind Side on Saturday night with a friend of mine.  The movie is based on the true story of Ravens football player Michael Oher.  Aside from a few mild profanities and sexual/drug references, the movie has a very positive message (for a full review of content, I recommend visiting PluggedIn).  What if Christians starting acting like Christ?  Would they still get bent out of shape about the style of music at worship services and the version of Scripture one uses?  Probably not.  Instead they might focus on meeting the needs of others and extending God's love to those who need it.  That's exactly what Leigh Anne and Sean Tuohy did for Michael Oher, a homeless high school student.  I highly recommend the movie with a note of caution for younger views (it's rated PG-13).
Here are some of my thoughts from the movie:

• It's easy to be a critic – Throughout the movie Leigh Anne is mocked by her wealthy friends for the way she cares for Michael.  I have found that there are lots of critics in life, and one cannot be discouraged by those people who fail to follow accomplish anything meaningful with their lives but sit on the sidelines and criticize those who do.  Don't be discouraged by critics!
• Doing what's right often requires sacrifices that pay off in the end - Inviting Michael into their lives was costly to the Tuohys in multiple ways.  They could have assessed the situation and seen the short-term cost without seeing the longterm payoff.  Often the most valuable experiences in life require a sacrifice with no guarantees.  If we're not careful, we can miss out on God's blessing by refusing to sacrifice our comfort.  The Tuohys didn't know what the future would hold, but they knew that caring for Michael was the right thing to do.
• Just because someone says it, doesn't mean it's true - At one point towards the end of the movie Michael is confronted by the idea that perhaps the Tuohys cared for him simply to serve their own selfish purposes.  He allowed the lie to infiltrate his thinking, and that created problems.  We can become disenfranchised by lies we hear and sometimes even believe about the motives of others.  While others don't always have pure motives, I have found it best to think the best of others.  I have found Stephen Covey's wisdom useful from The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People: "Seek first to understand, then to be understood."

Those are my thoughts.  Did you see the movie?  What did you think?