Sandra Bullock Starting Over: Three Films from Her Filmography that Offer an Autobiographical Take on Her Current Marriage Separation

It's no secret that Sandra Bullock is going through some rough times right now. If you have a TV or a computer, you are well aware of her recent Oscar win for the movie The Blindside, and her separation from husband Jesse James shortly thereafter. She certainly seems to be adding credence to the legend of the "Oscar curse," which the tabloids never fail to mention. In Bullock's case, one can't help but ponder the classic debate: does art imitate life or does life imitate art?

Bullock's current situation calls to mind three of her older films, which seem to mirror her current life circumstances, and all focus on a theme of starting over or renewal.

Hope Floats

Director: Forest Whitaker

Starring: Sandra Bullock, Harry Connick Jr., Rosanna Arquette, Gena Rowlands

This film couldn't be more in-tune with Bullock's quick rise to leading actress status following her Oscar nomination and subsequent win, her husband's infidelity, and now, her attempt to start over.

Hope Floats, directed by Forrest Whittaker, tells the story of Birdee Pruitt (Bullock), a former high school beauty queen who comes back to her hometown to start over following the televised break-up of her marriage.

Following the talk show unveiling that her husband of several years has been having an affair with her best friend, Birdee Pruitt arrives back in town to find that she can't start fresh because everyone there already knows all the sordid details of her separation. Gossip following her at every turn, Birdee Pruitt gets a rude awakening when she tries to get a job and discovers that not only does she not have any job related skills after being a house wife for so many years, but those with the power to hire her are the very same ones she teased back in high school. As Birdee Pruitt's confidence unravels, those close to her try to remind her of who she once was.

Does that plot, for the most part, sound vaguely familiar?

Hope Floats paints a realistic picture of what it's like to lose everything and start over, from scratch. These times of renewal and growth happen to all of us, but often times they are not pleasant times because they typically involve one or more of those "what doesn't kill you makes you stronger" experiences. That's what makes the film itself, as well as its female leading role, so heartbreakingly relatable. I think that's also why Bullock's current marital woes are selling tabloids like crazy, she's the girl next door that everyone likes, and she's going through a tough time.

While You Were Sleeping

Director: Jon Turteltaub

Starring: Sandra Bullock, Peter Gallagher, Bill Pullman

While You Were Sleeping has a more subtle connection to Bullock's present life than Hope Floats, but it has relevance in its theme of starting over.

The main character Lucy (Bullock) is a lonely, down-on-her-luck, New York City subway attendant. She doesn't have any family, no travels to speak of, no boyfriend or husband, and her holidays are spent alone. Though the back story is that nothing much ever happens to this character, Lucy quickly finds herself at the center of a huge lie encompassing an entire family she has never met before. When someone pushes Lucy's crush (a businessman who takes the subway daily, a man she has never spoken to) onto the tracks, she saves him from certain death, and promptly takes him to the hospital. While in a coma, the family of her crush (Peter Gallagher), comes to believe that Lucy is the fiancée.

With a suddenly full life and an instant family, Lucy begins to change drastically; all the things she never thought possible, now are possible.

This movie proves the point that some of things that others take for granted, like family, can be the one needed ingredient for a full and happy life. One small change in a life can make a world of difference. It's also notable that taking chances is an element of the renewal process in each of these films, and undoubtedly will be for Bullock.

The Thing Called Love

Director: Peter Bogdanovich

Starring: Sandra Bullock, River Phoenix, Dermot Mulroney

The Thing Called Love, while not on any classical or technical film terms, a good movie, is still an autobiographical snapshot of Bullock at this present point in time. In this film, Bullock portrays Linda Lue Linden, a classic cliché of the 20 something "nice girl", dreaming big and still searching for herself. Linda Lue Linden latches on to anyone who will stand still long enough, looking for kindred spirits to distract her from figuring out who she is and what she wants. In the space of one film Linda Lue Linden wavers from becoming a country music star, a pageant beauty queen, only to settle on a career as a comedic actress; she has been in love for years with a man who doesn't know she's alive and just so happens to love her best friend Miranda Presley, finally, Linda Lue Linden takes up with a sweet guy who adores her, but whom she doesn't love.

Though Bullock is not in her twenties, and can be determined to have established her career firmly, unlike The Thing Called Love's Linda Lue Linden, there is an element of re-discovery in every break-up. Each person has to once again take stock of who they are as a single entity, without someone else's wants and needs in the picture. You can bet that Bullock will be doing a lot of this re-assessing as she attempts to discern if her marriage is salvageable and grapples with the heavy load of tabloid exposure.