Faithful retelling of sports history

Rating: 7/10 (28 February 2004)

Being that I'm from Minnesota and was about 18 years old when the USA beat the Russian team to advance in the Olympics this film has a special place in my heart. The story is about coach Herb Brooks (Kurt Russell) who applies for the job to coach the Olympic Hockey Team and much to his surprise he is hired. During the first day of trials Brooks has a roster of players that he is sure about using much to the chagrin of the rest of the Olympic committee that wanted to have a hand in selecting the players. Brooks gets Craig Patrick (Noah Emmerich) for his assistant and he wants him to be more friendly and supportive to the players since he knows that as a head coach his job is to be harsher.
*****SPOILER ALERT*****
The players that are selected are all talented but relatively unknown but Brooks doesn't want the best players, he wants the best for his team. He spends long hours and many days trying to whip his team into shape in preparation for the Olympics but it puts a strain on his marriage to his wife Patty (Patricia Clarkson). Finally when they reach the Olympics the American team has grown more confidence and they have realized that they must work as a team if they have any chance of defeating the seemingly invincible Russians.
This film is directed by Gavin O'Connor who does an admirable job of recreating the mood and events of 1980 and one of the things that I noticed was the way the characters spoke and acted. Characters in films today (And in real life) seem to talk with a lot of attitude and display a lack of respect for others. That is not the case in this film and the script is careful to make sure that these actors capture the spirit of the times. The script also makes sure that the film is focused on Herb Brooks more than the players on his team. It would have been so easy to write a back story on each character but instead the film relies on showing what made them an effective team. Russell's portrayal of Brooks is extremely accurate and downplayed exactly the way the real Brooks was. Russell has always been an underrated actor but the studios know he's a dependable star and he's well cast here. One of the best things that this film does is remind us of what an incredible sports feat this was and it shows the sacrifices and pain these men went through in order to accomplish it. There's nothing fancy about this story and it is an old fashioned spirit lifting film but for those who remember the events that this is based on it's a film that is a lot of fun to relive over again.