The Blind Side has been dubbed Sandra Bullock's Erin Brockovich and not without good reason.

Just like Julia Roberts, rom-com favourite Sandra also dyed her hair a lighter shade to play a Good Samaritan, in the film which is based on a true story and subsequently picked up an Oscar.

But rather than a single mum going up against a major corporation, this time the focus for the do-gooding is a well-do-do Southern woman who takes in a homeless boy.

Leigh Anne Tuohy spots Michael Oher, a teen who goes to the same school as her children, walking on the street in the middle of winter wearing just a T-shirt and shorts. Michael soon becomes the new addition to her family, though it raises eyebrows among her conservative friends and family. Leigh Anne and her husband believe the teen has the potential to be a football player, and they help him to hone his talent.

Sandra, 45, spent time with the real Leigh Anne to research the character, although she was conscious of not making her performance an imitation.

The film is adapted from the book The Blind Side: Evolution Of A Game. While the story is touching, uplifting and may have you reaching for the tissues, it is also surprisingly funny.

It is the ultimate rags to riches story, which fans of American football are still witnessing, as Michael Oher is now playing in the NFL for the Baltimore Ravens.