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| 2/8/2004 |
| Miracle: I believe |
A Movie Review
by Wes Bennett
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“Miracle” is a highly rousing and satisfying sports film. It’s exciting, patriotic, and accomplishes everything that “Seabiscuit” tried with far better results.
With the recent athletic setbacks that the United States has suffered such as the loss to the Iran soccer team, our basketball team’s sixth place finish at the World Championships or Michael Johnson pulling up lame against Canadian sprinter Donovan Bailey in their infamous 150 meter battle, it’s nice to relive the story of the young and inexperienced 1980 U.S. hockey team who defeated an unbeatable Soviet team that was by any measure the best in the world. Their victory stunned the sports establishment and filled the U.S. with pride. It was what was undeniably one of the most thrilling moments in American sports history.
The team was pieced together and relentlessly drilled into shape by maniacally driven coach Herb Brooks (Kurt Russell). The story follows him as he assembles his players, molds them at any cost from a group of young college players into a well-oiled unit, and pushes them beyond human endurance toward what was realistically an impossible goal.
Similar to the film “Hoosiers”, “Miracle” focuses heavily on the coach, making him the main character. The movie doesn't try to portray Brooks as particularly heroic, but instead as an average man trying to accomplish something extraordinary. Russell as Brooks, gives a great lead performance (even with the distracting hairpiece). The part is very restrained and subtle, without any long emotional speeches.
With great turns in “Dark Blue” and “Backdraft,” Russell is a underrated actor who has long been stuck in sub-par action films such as “Soldier” and “Executive Decision.” If he ever gets a showy, dramatic role, perhaps in an independent film, Russell will surprise a lot of people with his ability.
The film had a more gritty and subdued feel than I would have expected from a Disney film. It did a great job of avoiding the sport film clichés that plague lesser films. And at a time when movies are shamelessly aimed at the young male demographic, “Miracle” is a mature, classic film that choose not to pander to the MTV generation with unnecessary love stories or forced comedic moments.
Director Gavin O'Connor deserves a lot of praise for being able to generate excitement and a genuine feeling of immediacy in games with such well-known outcomes. Even though there's never the slightest doubt of its outcome, "Miracle" is an extraordinarily exciting, absorbing and satisfying movie.
The cast is made up mostly of hockey players who were instructed in acting. The result is a level of physical realism usually missing in a sports film. The Soviet game is a blitzkrieg of body checking, breakaways, face-offs and power plays. The fast and hard-hitting hockey sequences are shot in a naturalistic, documentary style.
I was moved by several of the film’s memorable scenes such as when Brooks physically punishes the players after a lackluster first game or when he is forced to cut the final hockey player from his roster. The game against the Russians is also superb. With Al Michael's' and Ken Dryden's original commentary played over the footage, the game action is not just convincing, it is nearly documentary in it’s authenticity.
The movie qualifies as a sort of nostalgic, though accurate political period piece. A skillful title sequence and the brilliant use of the poignant, 1979 Jimmy Carter “malaise” speech inter cut with team USA playing a game of football in the snow, indelibly establishes the loss of national confidence and the downbeat mood of the post-Vietnam and Watergate'70s.
It does this with far more historical accuracy and narrative finesse than “Seabiscuit.” It was more real, relevant and much less forced than the recent best picture nominee. This was the American Olympic team who really did inspire the nation. They represented the finest parts of the country and that meant a whole lot more to me than an undersized horse.
“Miracle” has become the definitive hockey film, easily beating out the dated “Slapshot.” It also joins the ranks of other classic sports movies such as “Hoosiers”, “Breaking Away”, “The Natural” or “Rocky.”
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| "We use words like honor, code, loyalty. We use these words as the backbone of a life spent defending something. You use them as a punchline. I have neither the time nor the inclination to explain myself to a man who rises and sleeps under the blanket of the very freedom I provide, then question the manner in which I provide it." |
- Jack Nicholson
A Few Good Men
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Distributed Beers
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| 5 |
Sierra Nevada Bigfoot |
| 4 |
Guinness Draught |
| 3 |
Newcastle Brown Ale |
| 2 |
Bass Pale Ale |
| 1 |
Samuel Adams Boston Lager |
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