This is a film about a team. Not about a star player, and not about an undersized kid with a lot of heart. It's about a team that is full of heart, that only a movie called Miracle could match.
In February, 1980, in Lake Placid, NY, a group of young, brash, determined college hockey players came together to form the U.S. Olympic Hockey team with Herb Brooks (Kurt Russell) at the helm. There, a vivacious home crowd bore witness to the "Miracle on Ice," as the U.S. squad defeated the previously unstoppable team from the U.S.S.R., gold medal winners at the past four winter Olympics.
The relatively no-name cast serves Miracle well as it helps to hone in on the importance of Team USA as a whole, as opposed to only goalkeeper Jim Craig (Eddie Cahill) or captain Mike Eruzione (Patrick O'Brien Demsey). Cahill is probably the most recognizable actor from his bit role as Rachel's boytoy "Tag" on Friends, and then there are players like Demsey who had never acted before, and was hired based on his natural character and hockey skills. The rest of the cast is full of preppy-looking twenty-year olds; at times, the players are indecipherable among themselves.
But director Gavin O'Connor (Tumbleweeds) purposely used an unknown group of hockey players as a part of underscoring the TEAM aspect of the Miracle story. There is no James Van Der Beek-like star to steal the thunder from any of the other players. Even Kurt Russell acts as second banana to the team in his moving portrayal as the masochistic but caring Coach Brooks. Similar to war movies where a platoon of indiscernible soldiers bond together to become a "band of brothers," Miracle profits from its homogenous crew and captures the essence of what it means to be part of a team.
The other advantage of using actual hockey players in lieu of actors is that the onscreen action is incredibly riveting. The tough training sequences look authentic and the actual games even more so. With each bone-crunching body check against the boards, the audience cringes in empathy for the players. O'Connor seems to have done the impossible, make hockey exciting on the big screen. That alone should be a reason to see this film.
The "Miracle on Ice" happened twenty-four years ago this month, and as such, essentially anyone under the age of thirty has little to no recollection of the stunning hockey game or its social significance. Screenwriter Eric Guggenheim did well to keep this in mind, and provides constant references and reminders of the turbulent years preceding the 1980 Olympics. The opening credits arise out of a montage of crucial events from the 1970s, everything from Watergate to Atari to the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. This latter incident serves the greatest importance in relationship to the Cold War mentality of 1979 and 1980 that carried over into Lake Placid.
Guggenheim treats the era with the right amount of fear and caution that permeated the time. Thankfully, he doesn't resort to portraying the Soviet squad as evil, angry, and barbaric Commies, but as an insurmountable opponent, unbeatable for essentially two decades. It is the greater community and country that gives the game such high social significance -- the players saw it as just a hockey game. By showing both perspectives, O'Connor has created a wonderful meld of a historical drama and a sports movie.
As with any sports movie, authenticity is key. This is especially the case with Miracle because most of the adult audience will have lived through the "miracle." The film succeeds on almost all levels: the sports scenes are exhilarating and the costuming and scenery are believable. The sole disappointment is O'Connor's treatment of Al Michaels' memorable call, "Do you believe in Miracles? YES!!" The climactic line seems thrown away in the movie, almost as if it were only there because every sports fan is waiting for it. Michaels' commentary throughout the rest of the game scenes adds a goosebump-inducing layer to an already tense atmosphere.
On one level, Miracle is a moving, archetypal story about how the underdog triumphed over the favorite. On another, it is about how a country came to terms with its position after its defeat with the war in Vietnam. Any way you look at it, and regardless of your age, it is a film that throws you into the hockey rink and leaves you soaring as you depart the theater believing in miracles.
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