When the actors aren't acting
As the Cold War fades into memory, it is hard to explain the on-going, almost mystical fascination with The Miracle on Ice; the defeat of the vaunted Soviets by a bunch of unknown American college kids. Yes, national pride plays a big role, and more generally everyone loves an underdog. But I think what has really made this event such a cultural touchstone is the pure joy that surrounded it. Across the nation, and the world, for a myriad of reasons, but distilled and purified in the players and coaches who pursued their dream not for fame and fortune, but because the only dreams worth chasing are the hard ones.
"Miracle" captures this spirit down to the smallest nuance; in a day and age when you are as likely to read about athletes in the police blotter as the sports page, it is refreshing to watch people play for the pure joy of sport and love of the game. The ability to capture this love of the game was made possible by the fact that every single one of the actors portraying a...
"You don't have enough talent to win on talent alone..."
The first hockey games I ever watched were during the 1980 Winter Olympics and I know I was not alone in that respect. It took a while to understand what a blue line had to do with icing the puck and I have never gotten past the idea of what basketball would be like if it was played the same way as hockey (you are allowed to foul the guy with the puck/ball). But I remember watching the games the U.S. Hockey Team played against the Soviet Union and Finland. How big was the miracle that Al Michaels proclaimed during the final seconds of the semi-final match against the Soviets? Well, when "Sports Illustrated" came out the next week there was no need for a headline or caption on the cover photo of the U.S. team celebrating.
Knowing what is going to happen in "Miracle" is important because if we did not know that this team is going to win the gold medal then we might suspect the means that coach Herb Brooks (Kirk Russell) is using to achieve that end. Brooks is haunted by...
"I am not looking for the best players...
I am looking for the right ones". And that is really what this movie is all about: the power of people working together as a team instead of individually. Nowadays, we are tired of seeing superstars in different team sports that think that they are the greatest thing in the world and that their teammates are just the supporting cast. This is true in the US mostly in football and basketball, and in other countries in the word mainly in soccer.
I was born in Uruguay and lived there until the year 2000, and therefore am a big soccer fan. I am tired of seeing the players from my country excel in their European clubs only to see them fail miserably when they play for our country. The reason is that several of them think they are stars when they come to play for Uruguay and neglect to play as a team. They should all get together and give this movie a try!
Herb Brooks (Kurt Russell) is the new coach of the US men's hockey team that will compete in the Winter Olympic...
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