Let's Hear It for Feel-Good Films

Sean and Leigh Anne Tuohy with son Micheal on the field at University of Mississippi, where he began his football career.

If you are going to drop $10.50 to see a film at the local movie theater (rather than waiting a few weeks for it to be released on DVD so you can watch it at home from the comfort of your recliner) you may as well enjoy the full silver screen experience. By this I mean that you should come out of the theater feeling happy and convinced that life is good--rather than despondent about the fact that Columbus discovered America (think Avatar), confused about precisely how an evil genius expected to take over the world (think Sherlock Holmes), or convinced that the human race will never overcome racism (think Crash) .

I give five stars to The Blind Side, the story of NFL star Michael Oher's adoption by Sean and Leigh Anne Tuohy (and their biological son and daugher), of New Orleans. The family befriended and adopted Michael when he was 15 years old. The Tuohys have become national spokesmen for the adoption of older children out of foster care.

Pienaar and Springbok teammates in Soweto, at a rugby clinic with local children. Mandela sent the Springboks across the country to promote the national game under the slogan: One Team, One Country.

I also recommend Clint Eastwood's new movie Invictus, and not just because Matt Damon does a splendid job as Francois Pienaar, who led South Africa's Springbok rugby team to an upset victory in the 1995 World Cup. I like it because it's a masterful mix of sports drama and politics, and quite useful for educating children on the challenges of statesmanship.

Madela congratulates Springbok captain Francois Pienaar, who holds the World Rugby Cup. Pienaar told the press his team played for "all 45 million South Africans."