ConversantLife.com, together with Grace Hill Media, is giving away three copies of "The Blind Side" DVD. By now everyone knows the dramatic true story of Michael Oher, a homeless teen in Memphis who was taken in by Leigh Anne Tuohy, played in an Oscar-winning performance by Sandra Bullock. This real-life story of family and of Michael's growth into a blue-chip football star will have you cheering with its mix of gridiron action and heartwarming emotion.

To be eligible for your free DVD, simply read the review by Christopher Faris right here on ConversantLife.com and leave a comment about one or two films you have seen that caught you by surprise (in other words, the film hit your "blind side"). Either you were expecting to love the film but didn't, or you weren't expecting to like it and were pleasantly surprised.

By now everyone knows the story behind the Michael Lewis book and the John Lee Hancock directed movie, "The Blind Side." This review coincides with the release of the DVD.

“The Blind Side” is the mostly true story of football star Michael Oher and Leigh Anne Tuohy, played in an Oscar-winning performance by Sandra Bullock. In the film, Tuohy begins to notice Oher and finds something of a connection to him. With a combination of her faith and intuition, she pursues Oher to afford him a better life. This involves bringing Oher – a poor and underachieving black man from the other side of the railroad tracks – into her white, upper class world. As Oher lives with the family, Tuohy recognizes a gift in Oher that she directly correlates to football, and the mentoring begins.

Oscar is knocking at my door. Better get in my licks… 

The Blind Side. A rich white Memphis housewife takes in a hulking homeless black teenager and teaches him about God and football. He returns the favor by becoming a first-round NFL draft pick and an inseparable member of the family. Surefire, straight-arrow inspirational sports film succeeds as family entertainment and even manages to be mildly—microscopically—critical of the privileged social elite. Sandra Bullock does the subtlest acting of her career while director John Lee Hancock (who also adapted the bestselling book) does some careful steering through choppy emotional waters.

Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire. Despite the accolades and celebrity endorsements, an enormous slog.

I was sitting at my kitchen table the other day, looking at an ad for the new film, The Blind Side. It was an engaging graphic, with two people walking away from the viewer across a football field. The one on the right is a huge African-American man, dressed in black and white, almost identical to the small blond woman on his left. Their hands and arms are synchronized, the only difference being the turn of her head and the sun shining on her light hair and white face. Interesting.  

I drove to the mall to see Blind Side because my wife said I could not skewer it without watching it first.  So I did, but went to an early show, so I would not have to pay $12 for a movie I hated. I love the cheaper tickets, except for the fact that it’s too early to pop fresh popcorn, so the teenagers at the snack counter serve the stale stuff popped the day before.  

I wish I had a dollar for every time I heard Christians express a hunger to see their faith portrayed in a forthright manner onscreen.   Nobody wants to see something preachy.  They simply long to find a film that shows how beliefs are translated into tangible actions.   Surely, daily discipleship decisions can be translated into cinematic terms.

Prayers have been answered with a remarkably entertaining film, THE BLIND SIDE.   This real life story of football player Michael Oher comes from the acclaimed pen of Michael Lewis (author of Moneyball and The New New Thing).   But The Blind Side is a much more than a football story.   It is a tribute to families, to the power of adoption, to the practical difference one family can make.   At a time when we desperately need heroic actions, The Blind Side delivers refreshing role models.