Unfortunately, I don't remember much about the 1980 U.S. Olympic hockey team's miraculous win against the Soviets. I wish I did, but all I have are vague, abstract memories, not of the game, but of the joy that followed all over the country. It was a really big deal! Then a year later, there was a TV-Movie that aired on ABC called "Miracle on Ice" about the game. I never saw it, but I kinda think it's funny that in that version, Karl Malden played Coach Herb Brooks, erotic thriller king Andrew Stevens played Mike Eruzione, and Steve Guttenberg played Jim Craig. As of this writing, it's not available on video or DVD, and that's a shame, 'cause I'd love to see it.
"Miracle" is a movie I really wanted to see. I knew that it would be a happy, uplifting movie, the kinda movie that makes you wanna stand up and cheer (not literally, but you know what I mean). I've seen some really good movies recently, but it's been a while since I've seen that kind of movie. Fortunately, "Miracle" delivers. It's a very entertaining movie with tremendous buildup, and an ending that's as exciting as I'd hoped. The audience I saw it with got really into it. They were applauding, cheering, and at the end, I heard lotsa crying. Pretty surprising considering that everyone knew how it would end before they even walked in.
Right now, it's not cool to be patriotic. Sure, after 9/11, everyone was waving the American flag, saying how much they loved their country, and how they were proud to be American. But the spoiled citizens of this country (especially those in my generation) have short attention spans, and that passed after a few months. Now everyone is back to pissing on the flag, bitching about the country they live in, and having nothing but contempt for the U.S.A.. Some would say that it's because of who the current President is, but it was like this when Bubba Clinton was in office, too. I'll admit that I'm not a huge patriot. Still, I love this country. A lotta things about it piss me off, and a lotta changes need to be made, but yes, I love this country. I can't say I'm very patriotic, though. At the same time, I don't frown at patriotism. I have a lotta respect for Kid Rock, who displays huge American flags in concerts and in his videos. Clearly, he's proud to be American. I have a whole lot more respect for him than I do for some junkie rock singer from Seattle with a Che Guevara t-shirt bitching about how evil America is, ya know? If you don't love this country, and you disagree with Capitalism, then why the hell are you here? Oh yes, that American money is hard to resist, isn't it? Freakin' hypocrites.
Anyway...
If you're one of those people who don't like the United States of America, then don't see "Miracle." Don't get me wrong, it's not an over-the-top patriotic movie like what Michael Bay did with "Armageddon" and "Pearl Harbor" (though I was fine with the patriotism in those films). In fact, much time is spent showing how badly things were in the country at the time. But when they finally get to the big game, things are different, and appropriately so. From that point on, it's all about the U.S.A., and if the junkie rock singer with the Che Guevara T-shirt were watching the movie, he'd need to run out and buy a Karl Marx book to recover.
Yes, "Miracle" gets very patriotic towards the end, but there's some irony, and perhaps a little hypocrisy, behind the scenes. The movie was shot entirely in Canada. That's right, as patriotic as the movie may be, it was NOT "Made in the U.S.A.." Not only that, the Canadians weren't too happy about the movie being made there, especially at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver. While filming there, some assholes were hanging USSR flags out their windows and yelling at the cast and crew. Supposedly, Kurt Russell's chair was even stolen. This was at a college, where you can find a whole lotta Che Guevara t-shirts, but I have a feeling that there's also a growing animosity that Canada has against this country. Or maybe they're still pissed about "South Park: Bigger, Longer, and Uncut."
The main man in this movie is Kurt Russell. He plays Coach Herb Brooks, and though I've never seen the real Herb Brooks, I can say that Kurt Russell did a fantastic acting job. I can't say whether or not his depiction was accurate, but as a standalone acting job, he was excellent. Sadly, the real Herb Brooks died in a car accident just after the film was finished.
This is definitely Kurt Russell's movie, but there was also some great acting by Noah Emmerich (talented character actor who could be seen in "Frequency," "The Truman Show," "Cop Land," "Beautiful Girls," and others) as the assistant coach, Eddie Cahill (I'm not familiar with his previous work)is really good as Jim Craig, and so is Patrick O'Brien Demsey (his debut), who played Mike Eruzione. Finally, Patricia Clarkson plays Herb Brooks' wife. Patricia Clarkson is an amazing actress (you may remember her in "The Green Mile"), but I wish she'd get better roles. She's constantly cast as the mother or the wife, but she's someone who deserves better. Still, she brings dignity to what would have been a throwaway role from a lesser actress.
"Miracle" was directed by Gavin O'Connor, who I've never heard of. He's new to me, but I'm very impressed. He made a movie that's very fast-paced, even though it's over two hours long, and the complex hockey scenes are very well-executed. It certainly helped that he had a great script, so a lotta credit needs to go to the writer(s).
The movie is credited as being written by Eric Guggenheim, and this is his debut script. Mike Rich, the writer of "Radio," "The Rookie," and "Finding Forrester," rewrote it, but he wasn't given any credit for it. I don't know who wrote what, so I'll just say that Eric Guggenheim and Mike Rich did great work.
I liked "Miracle" a lot. It's got great acting (especially by Kurt Russell), it's well-directed, and the script is excellent. However, if you're the kinda person who thinks that Fidel Castro is a swell guy, you won't like the movie.
Scale of 1-10: 9