Yet another feel-good "determined coach/athlete" drama from Disney. (spoilers)

Rating: 3/10 (30 March 2006)

Released in 2004, Miracle was probably quickly turned out in response to Hollywood's almost-compulsive need for ultra-patriotic feel-good movies. For Disney, they never seem to get tired of the story of the determined coach, athlete, and team drama, since they have been producing almost one a year (with previous ones being Rookie, and, among one of the better ones--Meet the Titans). This one is based on Herb Brooks, a former Olympic hopeful for the US hockey team who is now coaching a new team of potential Olympic hopefuls for the US team who is set to challenge the Russian in the Cold-War era (this centering on the 1980 Olympics).
A major problem with this film, despite it being ritual at this point, is the pacing. I'm not sure whether it was the intention of the filmmakers to focus solely on the dynamics of Herb Brooks, who patiently tries to piece together a sound team of players, or whether it was the intention to focus on the work of the entire team who eventually went on to defeat the Russians. If it was the latter, than the pacing killed it. Even despite the little individual dramas that arise among the players, almost none of it is given much interesting detail. Almost none of it is really entertaining or meaningful. It is just kind of like...here is player X, you will know him because of this characteristic. We never really get much understanding of how the players were dynamic in and of themselves as though filmmakers were reluctant to add more detail beyond the making of Herb Brooks's character. The result of this being, a movie about an important figure in sports history (at least by the understanding of the filmmakers who chose to make a film about Brooks) that is intertwined with all of these other really unimportant people and even more standardized moments of hockey action.
The almost mundane portrayal of the historical importance of Herb Brooks is the result of far too much standardization. The consequence of Hollywood's inability to depart from convention.