Saving Sandra Bullock

Title sounds a bit silly I know, but as I prepared to write this piece it became more and more clear to me it was the way to go here.

I should say up front, I have been a fan of Sandra Bullock for a long time. I loved her in Speed, at the beginning...so likable in her role. And as Lucy in While You Were Sleeping, I thought she was perfectly cast in a relateable role for many. There have been a ton of movies since, and to be perfectly honest with you, as much as I have always liked her there were times it was becoming more difficult to embrace her as tightly as I did before.

There have been good flicks here and here, but a whole lot of ho-hummers too. Not to mention some real barking doggy's too, (Speed 2, and some other silly sequels and the like.) In my eye Sandra was walking dangerously close to the Will Farrell window to cash in her movie chips. I was wondering if she had done everything on screen she was ever going to do. Was the tank empty, and is that all there was? I always felt that was Meg Ryan's trouble. She did one thing....well....but the tank went dry.

But 2009 has been great to Sandra Bullock. To me, The Proposal is the surprise hit of the year. A new kind of comedy for her, and a gigantic hit. I reviewed it well, as did others. She was on the way to reinventing herself. I could have done without All About Steve, but then the home-run!.....Deeeeeep into the upper deck!

Bullocks performance as Leigh Anne Tuohy in the new feel good movie, The Blind Side to me changes everything for her. Sandra Bullock has never been better than this role. A real grown-up role in a real nice movie. Blond hair, new horizons, and a different Bullock than we've ever seen before. To me, she's never looked better, or been better in front of the camera. Her performance here is not just good, but it's a transformation I hope. A real nice dramatic role with room still for her charm. A solid story that's worth telling too. A sports movie with a heart that beats and a soul that's real. A graduation into a different stage of her career. And with all due respect to the first part of her very successful run, the best could still be to come. She is terrific here.

As where Farrell and others became stuck in the same roles with the same jokes and virtually the same movie time after time, I feel maybe Bullock has seen the light, and come to grips that she doesn't want to be the fore mentioned Farrell, and no one else wants her to either. To become a parody of oneself is a big kick in the equally big teeth, and 2009 has steered Bullock into a seemingly new and explorative new direction.

If you haven't seen The Blind Side, you should. Bullock is great and carries the day in a real nice feel good movie. Oscar? I'm don't know, but that's not what's important here. What is pertinent, is the re-igniting of a real Hollywood Star rising wonderfully into a new constellation of her career.