Oscar Matters: Sandra Bullock vs. Meryl Streep

I never thought I would say this, but Sandra Bullock (The Blind Side) is giving Meryl Streep (Julia & Julia and 15 other Oscar nominations) a run for her money in this year's best actress race. When I saw trailers for The Blind Side I rolled my eyes and yawned. I thought nothing could get me interested in seeing what was clearly going to be an overly sentimental sport-as-metaphor cliché ridden film. On the other hand, 10 seconds into the trailer for Julia & Julia I was psyched to see the movie. My dream girl, Amy Adams, and acting legend Meryl Streep team up in a movie about Julie Child? Sign me up. In hindsight I was duped by the conniving marketing teams of both films but ultimately saved by the Academy's expanded best picture category (which I thought I hated).

First, the ad team for Julia & Julia promised two great stories for the price of one, but they didn't mention the fact that one story was of unequal and lesser value than the other. While the story of Julia Child living with her husband in Paris and her decision to learn the art of French cooking is funny and touching, the story of Julia Powell writing a blog based on Julie Child's famous cookbook is a failed attempt to equate an insignificant woman with the great woman on whose coat tails she rode. It was also tough to watch my future lover Amy Adams struggle with trying to make this frustrating character likable.

Second, the ad team for The Blind Side refused to target this movie at me. They promised me Sandra Bullock, who has made a string of hit or miss movies over the last twenty years, in a wholesome family drama where some white family in the south adopts a black kid who plays football. Totally implausible. Well, it turns out, that the movie is really a character study of affluent southern white Christians confronted with an opportunity to save the life a young black man. The movie takes a balanced look at two communities that are prejudiced against each other and it goes on to show the human ties that bind those two communities together. Sandra Bullock is also a revelation. She plays Leigh Anne Touhy with bitting authenticity and heartfelt compassion which must mean her talent has been tragically wasted on the glib roles of all those low-stakes rom-coms she's been in.

At the end of the day, Sandra Bullock's performance had to be spot on perfect for The Blind Side to work and there is no doubt she nailed it. On the other hand Meryl Streep's outstanding performance could not salvage the mess that was Julia & Julia. Meryl was by far the best part of the movie, as she often is, but I'm of the school that says, the movie needs to be great to receive any Oscars. Sandra Bullock set The Blind Side up to be great and she deserves the Oscar. Oh gods of the Oscars, forgive me.