One of the better sports underdog movies

Rating: Null/10 (28 June 2004)

When I try to come up with sports movies that are actually good, I can only think of two: `Hoosiers' and `Remember the Titans'. `Hoosiers' was good because of the performances of Hackman, Hopper and Hershey, but it created little-to-no suspense for the basketball team. Denzel Washington and Will Patton lifted `Remember the Titans' but that film was great because of how well we got to know the football players, and because of the cheery tone. `Miracle' is a balancing act, focusing on both coach Herb Brooks (Kurt Russell) and the players of the team.
Brooks is, of course, the main character, but we never stray away from the players of the team for too long. Director Gavin O'Connor said he either had to hire actors and teach them to play hockey (impossible) or to hire hockey players and teach them how to act. Thankfully, he chose the latter. And they're not half bad, either.
Of course, the best performance of the film comes from Russell  and it's probably the best performance of his career, too. He masters the accent, the determination, and the anger. He was born to play Herb Brooks. He gets awesome support, too, from Patricia Clarkson and Noah Emmerich, among others.
When I rented `Hoosiers' the cover said that the film was praised for its `revolutionary' camera techniques that capture the basketball action. If those were revolutionary, I'm not sure if theirs a word in the English language that describes the cinematography in this film. I was amazed by how effortlessly the cameras followed the wonderfully choreographed hockey action. I don't want to even imagine the hard work that the hockey scenes must've been, but it doesn't seem that way.
One thing I must say is that the movie feels reallyheavy. It's so full of drama that it makes it sort of exhausting to watch. That's the only flaw: I don't think I'd watch this movie twice. It's strong and powerful, but a little too long and, well, thick.
Still, this is definitely on par with `Hoosiers' and `Remember the Titans', a great sports movie and of the years best so far, 7.5/10.