[5]

Sandra Bullock won an Oscar for her performance in this film, and that’s pretty much the best reason to see this movie. I’m not sure if it was the best performance of the year, but she is certainly very good — surprisingly controlled and low-key. I have mixed feelings about the story, which is supposed to be the inspirational true story of a Republican/Christian family who adopt a homeless black teenager. My problem with the scenario, other than the fact I’m supposed to empathize with right-wing god-lovers, is that the boy (played by Quinton Aaron) is a mute wallflower, a blank slate, devoid of will or passion, despite his tumultuous, psychologically scarring past. I suspect that if this character were presented more realistically — upset, angry, confused, or heaven forbid, aggressive — the movie’s target white, right-wing, Christian audience might not have been able to handle it.