The Moose Hole - Review of Miracle

Rating: 8/10 (1 February 2004)

There comes a time when a nation faces a crossroad in its history, a time where it must choose where the country goes next. That choice, whatever it may be, will shake the nation down to its core and change that nation's populous forever. In the United States, that situation was no more prominent then in 1980. It was the final year of the Carter administration and on the domestic front, the United States faced soaring inflation, sharp increases in energy prices and high interest rates. The nation fared no better overseas as American diplomats were taken hostage in Iran and the United States butted heads with the Soviet Union over their invasion of Afghanistan. All this turmoil in the presidency of what was the `smartest' president the country had ever had, who in one speech seem to blame all his problems on the American people. No wonder Americans were desperately looking for something to believe in. That revitalization of the American Spirit came in the form of the U.S. Olympic Hockey, who came from behind to pull off one of the greatest moments in sports history.
The story focuses on a rag-tag team of hockey players who get past their differences and rise to beat the greatest team in the world at the time, the Soviet Union. Herb Brooks has a real score to settle. In 1960, he was all set to be part of the U.S. Olympic hockey team and bring home a gold medal victory for the country. The end result was Brooks ended up being the last player to be cut from the team and he never had another shot at that medal as a hockey player. As for the United States, they went on to win the gold medal but it would be the last one for nearly twenty years as the U.S.S.R. (or the Soviet Union) would dominate the ice from there on out. That is until Herb Brooks becomes the coach of the U.S. Olympic team and changes the way they play hockey. Instead of going the normal route of choosing NHL All-Stars, Brooks makes a wide variety of choices that he plans to create the perfect team to beat the Russians at their own game. In the world outside the ice rink, political conflicts collide with the Winter Olympics to create a game (between the U.S. and Soviet Union) that would act as a symbolic clashing of strengths. That moment that Americans were looking for something to believe in was now. The story for Miracle, which was based on the true story of the 1980 U.S. Olympic Hockey team, was surprisingly quite inspirational. Why surprisingly? When an audience goes into a 'based on a true story' film, they practically know what is going to happen, so there is usually a great lack of enthusiasm in the material but Miracle combines the right amount of sports action and patriotism to make a rare nail-biting experience.
If anything, it can be said Miracle lacks star-power in its cast but that doesn't seem to hurt it one bit as the 'no-name' stars carry the film with ease. Kurt Russell, who is best known in the Disney world for his roles in such classics as The Computer Wore Tennis Shoes and Follow Me Boys!, takes center stage in the role of Herb Brooks. Russell has the role down to a T including that wonderful Minnesota accent that never feels awkward or half-assed. What makes his performance all the more special is the fact that the real Herb Brooks died shortly after principal photography of this feature was completed, so knowing that Russell put so much enthusiasm and emotion into the role before the death of Brooks shows the real dedication of the actor in his films. Patricia Clarkson, who was just nominated for an Academy Award for her supporting role in Pieces of April, gives a decent performance based on the material given to her in the role of Mrs. Brooks. Granted the filmmakers try to show the complications between Brooks' dream and his family life but her role seems too much of a distraction based on plot. The U.S. Olympic Hockey team on a whole is exceptionally played by a variety of actors, each of which contributes a piece of his talent to create a unified representation on screen.
Overall, any film, based on a true story, which can produce a movie-going audience cheering in applause as an end result is worthy of praise. `Do you believe in miracles? Yes!' This shouldn't come as too much of a surprise at Disney seems to have a knack for these sports films with such successes as Remember the Titans and The Rookie. They've covered football, baseball, and hockey. Can basketball be too far behind? Despite a wonderful showing, there are some things to pick at. One is the use of slow motion in the film. Granted this is a sports film and this technique is expected to be used, but in certain moments in the film, it just felt a tad awkward and wasn't necessarily needed. Another is just political commentary on the use of President Jimmy Carter's `malaise' speech in the film. In the context of the film, the filmmakers try to make it out to be an inspirational message, foreshadowing later events in the feature, when in reality it was Carter's blaming of the problems of the nation on the American people. Could it be inspirational in another sense? Yes, but not in the way the filmmakers were attempting to make it out to be. Miracle expresses how even in a time when a nation faces an almost uncertain future, the American people can still be proud of who they are and where they are from, in just one simple moment.
My Rating: **** out of 5 (Grade: B+)