A contrived story takes to the ice

I saw Miracle the other day. That’s the “based on a true story” about the 1980 U.S. Men’s Olympic hockey team. Knowing that the film was produced by Disney, I had various preconceived notions about the quality of the film as well as my doubt over whether it would be a film or a movie. My notions were right. It turned out to be one of those films with a typical plot line. Young boys must come together to achieve a common goal. Initially, coming from different places and having different ideas, they seem apart and are unable to relate. The one person who can bring them together must, for their sake and his. That of course was coach Herb Brooks, played quite splendidly by Kurt Russell. As I sat through the film, I realized that I was watching Remember the Titans on ice. Except here there were no racial conflicts, just ethnic ones. Instead of the U.S. trying to defeat segregation (well, it was really just Denzel Washington) they were trying to defeat big bad Communism. Despite all of the hokieness, contrived nature, and overall feeling that this story was so canned, I enjoyed the film. Because of all of those aspects, the film is exciting to watch. You can’t help but sit there and watch the entire film. Even if you lived through the actual event, you have to watch until the end to find out what happens. Well, I’ll tell you. The U.S. wins. Big surprise. But it was so darn exciting. The great rhetoric that Coach Brooks (Russell) gave to his players before the big game was perfect and the actual filming of the hockey with a great power ballad by Aerosmith made watching so worthwhile. If you like hockey, see this film. I you like stories like this, but like football more, watch Remember the Titans.