This movie has been billed a 'feel good' movie, which it is, but I think because it is the retelling of a life, of events that happened, it is more than that. It is a lesson. A tale of what is possible. Not likely, but possible. Whereas a movie is made up, it is a fable, this is a biography, one vision of the pieces of history linked together to become not just good, but inspirational.
I am sure there is a fair amount of sugar that went into coating this story from the grit of what actually happened to the screen version. There are several elements that were depicted that I think are worth noting. The first is that while the Touhy's took a large, unknown, homeless African American stranger into their home, they did worry that they were doing the wrong thing, putting their family at risk. But they did it anyway. They had faith that it was the right thing to do. They might attribute it to God, I would attribute it to their faith in mankind, but they did take that leap, but not without a little backward looking. So it was commendable and believable.
There are moments when it doesn't look like it will work out--the Touhy's have financial resources--which is the real story here. Anyone who thinks the playing field between rich and poor is level, take a look at this story. This is a kid who ended up in a different place than he was on the road to because he had love AND money to guide the change. But they also buck a lot of social norms and they bring Michael into their family. For real. That is gutsy. People who take someone physically out of poverty and show them how to live in the middle class world are deserving of our admiration, and Sandra Bullock did justice to Leigh Ann and Sean Touhy's story.
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