Miracle ««½
PG, 135m. 2004
Cast & Credits: Kurt Russell (Herb Brooks), Patricia Clarkson (Patty Brooks), Noah Emmerich (Craig Patrick), Sean McCann (Walter Bush), Kenneth Welsh (Doc Nagobads), Eddie Cahill (Jim Craig), Patrick O’Brien Demsey (Mike Eruzione). Screenplay by Eric Guggenheim. Directed by Gavin O’Connor.
Midway through "Miracle", based on the true story of Coach Herb Brooks who led the United States hockey team to victory against the Soviet Union in the 1980 Olympics, is a moment where a few players want to have a word with their headstrong leader: stoically played by Kurt Russell.
The teammates are concerned about Brooks’ sudden decision to bring on a much more experienced hockey player to the group. Their concern is understandable. It’s bad enough knowing, as Brooks’ makes it perfectly clear at the beginning of the film, that only 20 of the 26 players he’s chosen can go to the Olympics and that as the weeks and months get closer, six of them will be let go. Some of the players have already bought their parents tickets to see them play. Now they have to worry about a guy who’s got enough experience in the game that they must wonder which of them will be cut for sure?
Brooks will hear none of it until finally, one of them speaks up and says the reason for their concern is because they are all like a family.
I have no doubt that what this team went through in the months before going up against a Soviet team who was not just our rival when it came to the Olympics (they won the Gold medal four times in 1964, ’68, ’72 and '76) but also our enemy when it came to world affairs made this group a close-knit family. I didn’t get that kind of closeness, however, watching the film.
"Miracle" is not only bogged down with familiar plot clichés of sports’ movies past that include Russell’s Brooks’ who is determined to get what had been denied him back when he was the same age as his players. There are rival team members who fight amongst themselves and have personal problems of their own. And Brooks’ loving wife (Patricia Clarkson) who stands by her man even though he tends to brush her aside letting his feelings for the game get in the way.
I tried hard to embrace "Miracle", almost as hard as Brooks works his team to the brink of exhaustion. It’s obvious the kind of mood the film’s studio, Walt Disney, was pushing for; to give us a feel good movie where we’re not just left in our seats cheering but perhaps maybe even shed a tear. You can tell this has the makings of a Disney movie just by the way the hockey games are shot. We see players ramming each other while others are hit so hard they fall into the stands. But there is no sense of excitement here, not to mention very little blood.
Imagine, for example, how director Oliver Stone would have handled shooting such action sequences. It’s a good bet I would have literally heard the sickening sounds of bodies colliding together the way I heard bones breaking in his ode to the NFL, "Any Given Sunday" (1999). Stone would have probably incorporated a time clock at the bottom corner of the screen to put us on edge as the game time gets closer to zero. He might have even provided us with a puck’s eye view as it is passed around from player to player before finally arriving at its final destination; the goal.
We get practically none of that here as the team plays several different games leading up to the climax. The mood director Gavin O’Connor and screenwriter Eric Guggenheim wanted to leave the audience with was a winning combination of both hope and pride in light of such depressing events as Watergate, the Cold War, and the Iran Hostage Crisis. Events of which gave Americans a feeling of uncertainty in the 1970s.
The problem in viewing this film is it’s hard to get past the fact a lot has changed in the 20 plus years since the 1980 Olympics. Russia is no longer our enemy. If this film had come out at around the time "Rocky IV" (1985) did back in the mid-1980s where Stallone’s Italian Stallion was seen going up against a towering Russian boxer and where our relations with the Soviet Union were still on shaky ground, I might have felt a little differently.
I know there are those who read this review will say I am being a little too hard on this movie suggesting I give the Mickey Mouse studio a break and say, “It’s Disney for God’s sake. They’re just trying to cater to the masses, hence their PG rating. "Miracle" is supposed to be a family film.”
By comparison, "Miracle" is about a team who was also faced with impossible odds. This was a group of guys whose average age, as sportscaster Al Michaels said, was 21 years old and were going up against a rival team who had been playing hockey for 15 years or more. These Russian hockey players were towering monsters compared to the Americans. The fact the U.S.A. beat them not only made for an incredible victory but obviously a great story.
I would have loved to have been cheering the words, “U.S.A!” the way the spectators did back in 1980 when they watched our country’s team and the Soviets square off against each other. I would have been proud to have known this small close-knit family of hockey players as Aerosmith’s Dream On was heard playing during the end credits revealing what the real-life hockey players are doing today.
I admit I did kind of get choked up in the end of "Miracle" but it was for all the wrong reasons. For a movie that’s promoted to be a feel-good picture, the only emotion I was left with was one of lingering sadness over the fact Herb Brooks died shortly before filming began.
Originally Published 2/6/04
©2/23/26
PG, 135m. 2004
Cast & Credits: Kurt Russell (Herb Brooks), Patricia Clarkson (Patty Brooks), Noah Emmerich (Craig Patrick), Sean McCann (Walter Bush), Kenneth Welsh (Doc Nagobads), Eddie Cahill (Jim Craig), Patrick O’Brien Demsey (Mike Eruzione). Screenplay by Eric Guggenheim. Directed by Gavin O’Connor.
The teammates are concerned about Brooks’ sudden decision to bring on a much more experienced hockey player to the group. Their concern is understandable. It’s bad enough knowing, as Brooks’ makes it perfectly clear at the beginning of the film, that only 20 of the 26 players he’s chosen can go to the Olympics and that as the weeks and months get closer, six of them will be let go. Some of the players have already bought their parents tickets to see them play. Now they have to worry about a guy who’s got enough experience in the game that they must wonder which of them will be cut for sure?
Brooks will hear none of it until finally, one of them speaks up and says the reason for their concern is because they are all like a family.
I have no doubt that what this team went through in the months before going up against a Soviet team who was not just our rival when it came to the Olympics (they won the Gold medal four times in 1964, ’68, ’72 and '76) but also our enemy when it came to world affairs made this group a close-knit family. I didn’t get that kind of closeness, however, watching the film.
"Miracle" is not only bogged down with familiar plot clichés of sports’ movies past that include Russell’s Brooks’ who is determined to get what had been denied him back when he was the same age as his players. There are rival team members who fight amongst themselves and have personal problems of their own. And Brooks’ loving wife (Patricia Clarkson) who stands by her man even though he tends to brush her aside letting his feelings for the game get in the way.
The film is also emotionally distant and at times, as icily cold as the rink the players compete on, or as chilly as the snowy weather gets at Lake Placid. Every time an emotional moment comes on, especially in the case of Russell’s character, something happens that keeps him from saying how he really feels.That’s not to say "Miracle" isn’t without its surprising moments, many of which are ironically provided by Russell who steals the show, which stands to reason since he is after all the coach. In particular is a great scene where immediately following the team’s loss in Sweeden, Brooks orders all the players on the ice to practice skating drills long after the lights in the stadium have been turned off.
I tried hard to embrace "Miracle", almost as hard as Brooks works his team to the brink of exhaustion. It’s obvious the kind of mood the film’s studio, Walt Disney, was pushing for; to give us a feel good movie where we’re not just left in our seats cheering but perhaps maybe even shed a tear. You can tell this has the makings of a Disney movie just by the way the hockey games are shot. We see players ramming each other while others are hit so hard they fall into the stands. But there is no sense of excitement here, not to mention very little blood.
Imagine, for example, how director Oliver Stone would have handled shooting such action sequences. It’s a good bet I would have literally heard the sickening sounds of bodies colliding together the way I heard bones breaking in his ode to the NFL, "Any Given Sunday" (1999). Stone would have probably incorporated a time clock at the bottom corner of the screen to put us on edge as the game time gets closer to zero. He might have even provided us with a puck’s eye view as it is passed around from player to player before finally arriving at its final destination; the goal.
We get practically none of that here as the team plays several different games leading up to the climax. The mood director Gavin O’Connor and screenwriter Eric Guggenheim wanted to leave the audience with was a winning combination of both hope and pride in light of such depressing events as Watergate, the Cold War, and the Iran Hostage Crisis. Events of which gave Americans a feeling of uncertainty in the 1970s.
The problem in viewing this film is it’s hard to get past the fact a lot has changed in the 20 plus years since the 1980 Olympics. Russia is no longer our enemy. If this film had come out at around the time "Rocky IV" (1985) did back in the mid-1980s where Stallone’s Italian Stallion was seen going up against a towering Russian boxer and where our relations with the Soviet Union were still on shaky ground, I might have felt a little differently.
I know there are those who read this review will say I am being a little too hard on this movie suggesting I give the Mickey Mouse studio a break and say, “It’s Disney for God’s sake. They’re just trying to cater to the masses, hence their PG rating. "Miracle" is supposed to be a family film.”
The bottom line is I’ve seen far better sports movies that could also be deemed family films and also boasted the PG rating. They have not only either kept me on edge but also left me cheering and maybe even brought a tear to my eye. "Remember the Titans" (2000) was made by Disney and perhaps part of what made that movie work, aside from good acting was the fact Jerry Bruckheimer produced it.The one film I associated "Miracle" with most was 1987’s basketball movie, "Hoosiers", simply because it had the same plot elements. In that film, which was also loosely based on a true story, Gene Hackman played a coach trying to redeem himself leading a high school basketball team who were faced with impossible odds. I got choked up when that movie ended as the camera focused on the photo of the team and you heard Hackman’s coach saying, “I love you guys.”
By comparison, "Miracle" is about a team who was also faced with impossible odds. This was a group of guys whose average age, as sportscaster Al Michaels said, was 21 years old and were going up against a rival team who had been playing hockey for 15 years or more. These Russian hockey players were towering monsters compared to the Americans. The fact the U.S.A. beat them not only made for an incredible victory but obviously a great story.
I would have loved to have been cheering the words, “U.S.A!” the way the spectators did back in 1980 when they watched our country’s team and the Soviets square off against each other. I would have been proud to have known this small close-knit family of hockey players as Aerosmith’s Dream On was heard playing during the end credits revealing what the real-life hockey players are doing today.
I admit I did kind of get choked up in the end of "Miracle" but it was for all the wrong reasons. For a movie that’s promoted to be a feel-good picture, the only emotion I was left with was one of lingering sadness over the fact Herb Brooks died shortly before filming began.
Originally Published 2/6/04
©2/23/26
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