The actors did a phenomenal job

Rating: 8/10 (1 October 2014)

" 'I'm sure there are a lot of people who do not know the difference between a blue line and a clothesline. It's irrelevant. It doesn't matter. An event that needs no buildup, no superfluous adjectives, the United States and the Soviet Union on a sheet of ice in Lake Placid,' " (Disney). This introduction, iterated before the climax of the movie Miracle, not only describes the viewing audience of the game, it can be compared to the audience of the film itself. It does not matter how familiar one is with the game of hockey, it is an action-packed, motivating, and at times poignant film that is overall fantastically entertaining. One of the best features of Miracle is the sense of realness the inexperienced actors evoke in the viewer through the rawness of their emotions.
As one watches the film, it is apparent many of the actors are not recognizable, yet it does not take away from the film. The reason the men who portray the 1980 team will probably never show up in a major film is because they are not professional actors. They are former hockey players, with varying degrees of experience in both acting and playing. The director, Gavin O'Conner, explains his reasoning, " 'I didn't want to cast actors. You can't get actors to play hockey at the level required. I thought the way to go was to get hockey players born with the acting gene but who didn't know it and teach them how to act,' '' (Caple). The logic is simple: it is easier to teach a hockey player to act than it is to teach an actor to play hockey. Imagine a movie made with Brad Pitt, Matt Damon, or Daniel Craig struggling to stand up or perform basic maneuvers. It would take a lot away from the film. Many scenes involve up close shots of the actors making plays, getting hit, and enthusiastically celebrating after scoring. None of these powerful shots would be possible if stunt doubles had to be constantly used. The film's cinematography was complicated, and there are many scenes where the viewer is situated in the middle of the action, right alongside the players. As film critic Roger Ebert explains "We're in the middle of the confusion on the ice, feeling the energy rather than focusing on plot points," (Ebert). An atmosphere of being in the game and part of the team is created because of the actor's skating abilities. The casting choice made by O'Conner greatly effects how the viewer experiences the games.
Not only are the game scenes supplemented by the actors, the characters become very realistic off the ice. As Roger Ebert calls to attention in his review, most athletic movies nowadays focus on one or a few individuals of a sports team, and this is not the case in Miracle. In fact, it is told from the coaches prospective. The purpose of this is for the viewer to get a sense of how a hockey team works. In comparison to more individualized sports like basketball or football, hockey has a completely team-oriented mentality to it. In order to play the game well, an entire unit needs to show up and play their best every day. If one piece is lacking, it all falls apart. The viewer is given a sense of this by the way the story is shown in the movie. There are players focused on slightly more than others, but no one is held on a pedestal and considered to be the savior of the team. This sense of togetherness is produced and enhanced through the actors. None of them steal the spotlight, and none of them want to. The men lived and breathed their roles both on and off the set. When the members of the real Olympic team visited the set, Jack O'Callahan commented on how seriously they were taking on their roles.
"We visited the set and we went out together afterwords, and these actors would talk to each other and refer to each and they would use our names,'' O'Callahan said. "Someone would say, 'Hey O.C., what time are you getting up tomorrow?' and we would both say at the same instant, 'About 8,' (Caple).
Even with the members of the real team, the actors were so used to calling each other by their roles' names they still responded to comments addressed to those whom they were representing in the film. The emotions shown by the men in the movie are that more believable when they fully take on their character. When the characters are so realistically passionate, it is easier for the viewer to connect to them and how they feel. O'Callahan, a man who lived the experience the movie portrays, praises the film, saying, " 'the passion, it's all through the movie at every level,''' (Caple). The actors in Miracle made an emotionally charged film about what is regarded as one of the greatest Olympic hockey moments in history so believable, the men who were on the ice considered it an accurate representation.
Works Cited
Caple, Jim. "Making a 'Miracle' on Ice." ESPN.com: Page 3. N.p., 6 Feb. 2004. Web. 28 Sept. 2014. Ebert, Roger. "Miracle Movie Review & Film Summary (2004) Roger Ebert." All Content. N.p., Feb. 2004. Web. 28 Sept. 2014. Miracle. Dir. Gavin O'Connor. Perf. Kurt Russell. Disney, 2004. DVD.