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Americans on Ice
Miracle would be a standard sports film if it weren't for the minor detail that it's completely true. Instead, it's a quality retelling of a good story.

Starring: Kurt Russell, Patricia Clarkson, Noah Emmerich, Sean McCann, Kenneth Welsh, Eddie Cahill, Patrick O'Brien Demsey, Michael Mantenuto
Director: Gavin O'Connor

Reviewed by Kevin Cunningham

THE PITCH: College coach Herb Brooks takes the unlikeliest of teams to take out the greatest hockey team ever in a hockey game that was so much more than a hockey game. IN OTHER WORDS: The true story, with Kurt Russell in charge.

Usually, it's not until a true sports moment has been put in a movie that people try to add all sorts of subtext. The true story behind Miracle needs no such additions. It was at it's time the ultimate of sports stories: the group of scrappy underdogs facing a team that many still consider to have been the greatest of all time. But it was also a source of national pride at one of the times when America had little. You don't have to be a history major to know how low America felt at the end of the '70's. Though an Olympic hockey game that wasn't even for a medal was hardly a huge victory in the Cold War, it was something that every American was happy to take.

This retelling of the story that almost all sports fans know is fairly no frills. Despite it's core audience knowing how it's going to end, it doesn't do any tricks with it's storytelling, and just moves straight into the events that lead up to the Miracle happening. The focus is on the coach, Herb Brooks, who is played capably by Kurt Russell. Russell has rarely carried himself with such charisma, and he succeeds as one of the archetypical coaches of all time, despite trying to be undone by a Minnesota accent, a fashion sense that looks like it came from the makers of That '70's Show and a wig that just looks odd.

The story moves along quickly and without any tricks. It feels a lot like a lot of films that came out of the '70's, and that's not a bad thing. The team is portrayed well by a lot of actors you won't recognize, which works. Star power might take away from one of the themes of the team, that no one man is more important than anyone else. There are a few subplots which are somewhat breezed through, but they don't take away from the story.

When the film finally gets to playing actual hockey games, though, it hits it's stride. The on-ice sequences are some of the most smooth and well-filmed in hockey film history. The action feels very real, and it stands up to the viewing of the most hardcore fans. It also moves through the games quickly without feeling like it's jumping through a two and a half hour game in mere moments.

In the end, it feels like this film got the real story right, from the things no one saw at the time to the on-air broadcasting by Al Michaels. It's truly a joy to watch, whether or not you're a fan of the sport or not, simply because unlike most clichéd sports stories, this one is true.

The DVD comes with an extra disc, and has plenty of the usual features and commentaries and making-of documentaries. However, this DVD comes with footage shot with the filmmakers and Kurt Russell talking with the real Herb Brooks about everything that happened before and during production. Brooks was killed in a car crash shortly after production ended, and the footage provided includes the kind of stories and storytelling you expect out of a guy who's been through as much as he has. It's almost required viewing after watching the film.

Rating	Film:(3out of 4 stars)
	Extras: (4 out of 4 stars)
	Overall: (3 1/2 out of 4 stars)

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