Abduction (2011)

2/5

John Singleton's Abduction did little more than reaffirm my belief that Taylor Lautner is a terrible actor. The movie is just another excuse to try to put his shirtless body on as many screens as possible. What audiences actually saw was his lack of acting ability. The (terrible) story focuses on Nathan Price (Lautner), a high school student who finds out that his "parents" aren't his real parents on the same day that he witnesses their murder. And from that point on, he's running from multiple ne'er-do-well groups while trying to discover the truth behind his childhood.

Sounds like it could be good, right? Especially with John Singleton--who made the phenomenal Boyz N The Hood--helming the project. Unfortunately, he's working a pretty low standard this time. (By the way, did anybody else notice a nauseating amount of Apple product placement?) Singleton tries, and fails, at mixing emotion with action. He blasts loud rock music nearly nonstop in lieu of using intelligence and pacing to build suspense. The plotting is entirely preposterous, starting with a ludicrous pre-teen's fantasy of high school life and keeping up the laughs with unbearable dialogue. Not much of the movie makes sense when you think about it (so I suggest you don't), and the action scenes are surprisingly few and far between. All things considered, there's not much reason for me to recommend this film to anybody.

IMDb link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1600195/

The Blind Side (2009)

4/5

The Blind Side is a wonderfully uplifting true story of a young boy from the projects who is taken in by affluent Southerners and eventually succeeds as a professional football player. Sandra Bullock plays the rich Southern belle who sees a boy in need and takes him under her wing and Quinton Aaron plays the youth extracted from a bad situation by good people. This movie has an incredible power to touch your spirit; it pits kindness and generosity against hate and selfishness for the soul of a vulnerable young man. We are witness to people at a crossroads who can take the easy way out of someone's life or the tough way into someone's heart. It is satisfying on just about all the levels you would expect from this kind of sentimental movie.

The technical aspects are about average, better in some areas and worse in others. There is the seemingly obligatory montage at the end that's just oozing and dripping sap without adding any value. And there is the occasional dialogue that hammers in subtleties that would otherwise have remained in the background for the vigilant observer. Still, The Blind Side is an affecting tale, made more powerful by the fact that it actually happened. This is the movie to see if you need to reaffirm you faith in mankind.

IMDb link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0878804/