Chris Hewitt
Published: February 18 2004
The 1980 Olympic hockey tournament had plenty of drama, and “Miracle” has the good sense to realize that.
The story of the U.S. hockey team is so filled with tragedy and comedy that it’s surprising it hasn’t been filmed before (we won’t count the reportedly heinous 1981 TV movie). Not favored to win a medal at the Lake Placid Olympics, the Americans pulled off upset after upset against the world’s top teams, including the Soviets, winners of the previous four Olympics, and took home the gold in what Sports Illustrated called the greatest sports story of the century.
What director Gavin O’Connor and writer Eric Guggenheim have done with “Miracle” is to honor the determination of Coach Herb Brooks and his team by pretty much telling their story like it was.
The title, a reference to the team’s designation as the Miracle on Ice, is something of a misnomer. Sports movies are always better when they show us how much work and sacrifice precedes triumph, and “Miracle” devotes 90 minutes to Brooks’ training of his players. It invests us in the team by showing how nearly impossible their dream was.
“Miracle” is not one amazing goal after another: the players miss a lot of shots, they make mistakes and they ignore their inspiring coach. The term “Miracle on Ice” undervalues what they did – no miracles here, just a lot of hard work. And that’s what the movie is about.
It’s also about what a complex, fascinating man the late Brooks was, on the job and at home.
Kurt Russell’s performance as Brooks is, like the movie, subtle and powerful, conveying the weight of the goal he set for himself, the personal cost of that goal and the humor of a man who would deliberately cheese off his team in the middle of a crucial game and afterward ask his assistant coach, “Think that’ll get `em going?”
Many of Russell’s best scenes are wordless, like the one after the Soviet victory in the Olympics semifinal, when he spots Patti in the stands and his proud, startled looks seems to say, “Holy cow. It worked.”
“Miracle” makes us feel like we’re on the inside of this remarkable event, where the players were so focused on the game that they didn’t realize how big their story was becoming. We understand how sweet it was for Brooks and his team to achieve something that meant a lot to them.
And we understand that it made it even sweeter when they realized it also meant a lot to the whole country.
