“Eleven seconds, you got ten seconds, the countdown going on right now…Morrow up to Silk…five seconds left in the game! Do you believe in miracles? Yes!” – Al Michaels, ABC Sportscaster
(Jack O’Callahan or “OC” attacking Mike Ramsey after the “miracle”. Love that.)
I’ve posted WAY too much about this movie, and the Miracle on Ice in general. Other posts:
Watching the film again last night affirmed, yet again, my high opinion of Kurt Russell’s performance as Herb Brooks, coach of the 1980 Olympic team.
I think it was the most under-rated performance not only of last year but of recent memory. I watched his moments over and over and over again … studying him … marveling. I think partly my awe is because of my addiction to the HBO documentary about Miracle on Ice – I am very familiar with Herb Brooks’ mannerisms, and Kurt Russell not only inhabits them – he seems to channel them.
This is a great performance by a movie star. It is a star turn. And yet it is also, ultimately, a very humble piece of acting. It’s about Herb Brooks. not Kurt Russell being a big star and showing off his acting.
Watch the last moment when he hustles to get off the rink, away from the jubilation, so he can be alone. Watch him. Just watch Kurt Russell in that quiet moment by himself. We can’t even see his face, which is great film-making, I think. The director made an excellent choice, avoiding big obvious close-ups. We just see him pacing in that shadowy hallway, you can FEEL the adrenaline, the emotion, surging through him. He must feel like he has gone crazy. They won? How can he comprehend it? Then, Russell suddenly clenches his fists and shakes them in front of him, quietly, fierce, primal.
That performance is a masterpiece of subtlety and specificity. Those blue blue eyes, the accent, and the moments he takes, his mannerisms. Everyone who was on that team talks about how intimidating Herb Brooks was, and how scary he could be. But also: how unbelievably smart he was, and how he could motivate people to be better than they thought they were. Herb Brooks always said that he did not “push” people to be great – he “pulled greatness out of them”. …
Here are some great links about the “Miracle on Ice”.
Russell is exceptional in The Miracle – very understated. Makes you wonder why he hasn’t done more rolls to exhibit his range.
I still remember seeing him in The Computer who wore Tennis Shoes when I was … 8? They showed it to us in a school assembly … but … can that be right? I remember us being in what they called the “multi-purpose room” (cafeteria, gym) … and we watched that movie. I loved him! He’s still around. But he’s never shown what he can really do like he did in Miracle.
There were a couple of other Disney flicks he did — one with Bob Crane (Hogan’s Heroes) with a young Bruno Kirby too (driving around with a giant pickle on the top of a car — SuperDad I think it was) — as fun as those films were, it is nice he survived that, career wise. And I was once mistaken for him in Muskoka.
Miracle is one of those films I want to see, yet have never gotten around to watching. Ridiculous, yes, as I:
a.) love hockey
b.) think Russell’s great
c.) am always looking for something new to watch, as I ride Metro-North daily and pass the time watching movies on my laptop.
Sounds like It’s time to rent Miracle. It’ll be the commute flick next week.
Sports — and in no other way related — Yoke:
Why did they legalize gay marriage in Mass.? So Red Sox Nation could have their crush on Johnny Damon and feel guilty over the illegality of it…
;-)
Red — Oh, I so agree with you about Kurt Russell in that movie. It’s just breathtaking to watch his performance. He’s transformed.
Ron – your joke assumes that Red Sox Nation is all male.
My favorite part of the Special Features was about the massive casting call they put out to find all the kids. They wanted hockey players – not actors.
Fascinating. They had to get kids from the region the real guys were from – because the accents are so specific (Minnesota, Boston) … and also that looked like the real guys … and had similar skating skills as the real guys …
It’s amazing the cast they put together. All those hockey players – with very little acting experience – do a wonderful job, I think,
I also love that Buzz Schneider’s son Billy is in the movie – and he plays his own father. Like … what???
Oh, and of course – whatever kids they found had to have some kind of natural ability for acting, too – let’s not forget that.
I think they all did a great job.
But it’s really Kurt Russell’s movie.
so is it time then to add miracle on ice, or kurt russell, to your list of “Stark Raving Mad Obsessions”?
Kurt Russell’s in that movie? Wow. I guess I was blinded by Eddie Cahill’s hotness.
lisa – hahahahahaha
Scof – My obsession here hasn’t quiiiiiite reached the tipping point of “stark raving mad”-ness. I can tell when it happens. It is an unmistakable sensation. :)
“Dave” – so if you were mistaken for Kurt Russell, then that basically means you are a hunk. Yay!!
Actually, they thought he was Leon Russell.
–well I was hung over at the time
I was so disappointed that Miracle, even Kurt Russell didn’t get a single nod for an Oscar. The movie, the acting, were so incredible. Disney has done some iffy stuff lately, but they really hit the nail on the head with that movie. They approached it so intelligently, they cast the movie beautifully, and the end result was spectacular. The way they seemlessly mixed 1980 footage with the acting was very cool. When I saw it in the theater, my first thought was “I have to have the DVD”. Awesome, awesome movie.
Wonderful movie. I met the real Herb Brooks a few times (when I was a sports producer), and Russell’s take on him was *incredible*.
The part that I still remember – and wrote about – was that the movie conveyed the ennui and hopelessness of the post-Watergate, Pre-Reagan, Carter-era atmosphere with such wonderful awfulness.
As my co-host Brian Ward noted, you could look around the theatre as Brooks was driving home from the exhibition game in Thief River Falls (where the US got clobbered) listening to Carter’s “Malaise” speech, and see a LOT of people in my/our age group sitting there, remembering how depressing the US was back then.
Kurt Russell
This site is pretty much dedicated to the wonderfullness that is Kurt Russell. Steve-O, of LlamaButcher’s fame, and I discovered that we had this mutual Kurt Russell obsession and we started TBF as a result. One day soon I’ll do…
mitch … I was more focused on the hotties playing football in the snow. Hotties + football + snow = no more malaise.
also, mitch – i’m jealous you got to meet Herb Brooks. What an incredible human being he must have been.
I only hope Disney does as good a job with “The Greatest Game Ever Played” which is coming out in September. It’s from the book by Mark Frost about the 190-something U.S. Open at The Country Club won by a young amateur named Frances Ouimet.
I know nary a smidge about golf, but I bought the book for my dad and then read it on his recommendation. I literally could NOT put it down, it was so good.
It’s the same sort of story as “Miracle”; poor young man v. older, richer establishment. Awesome, awesome story.
Just hope Disney doesn’t eff it up.
Pretty much anything Kurt Russell is in is worth watching.
P.S. Sheila, have you heard him tell the story of meeting Goldie Hawn on the Disney lot when he was barely a teenager and she was a young showgirl? Priceless.
“Miracle” is a great flic red, you’re right. i’ll have to watch it again this weekend. he has brooks nailed.
Ara = no, I haven’t heard the story! Can you tell it to me? It sounds great. :)
I have to say that when this movie was about to come out, it irritated me to no end the number of people who referred to this as “that Kirk Russell movie.” Sure, I’m a fan of “Used Cars” – who isn’t. But I’m not going gaga all over his life’s work just because he’s got a hot wife, a firm chin, and looks at 50+ that any 30+ guy like myself would kill for.
But still, he made the movie the work of excellence that I think it was. My own devotion to the movie (and I can easily double your viewing total, Sheila) was due to my hero worship of the team itself. As one of those kids plopped down in front of the TV to watch the tape-delayed version not knowing the outcome, it was a life-changing event. I almost dreaded the thought that the Miracle would be reduced to some fakery once Disney got their paws on it, but I have to give them (and Kirk) major props for capturing the spectacle authentically (well, except for the GM, who has a legitimate complaint about his portrayal).
The other note I think deserves some credit was how the acting team was put together – only a few actors, and a lot of real hockey players. They also put the group into some training settings that aided the reality of their performance. Not the type of acting skill you see so readily on the screen, but the type of production technique that makes a movie work when it’s all put together.
Along woth Miracle I thought Russell played a great role in “Soldier.”
What I like about “Miracle,” in addition to Kurt Russell’s amazing performance and the great amateur actors who play the team members, is the evocation of the late 70s atmosphere–so dispirited and declinist–and how everything turned around so quickly in 1980. I wonder if one reason the movie wasn’t nominated for any Oscars is because declinism is fashionable in Hollywood right now. “Miracle” shows that national “malaise” is not inevitable or irreversible if you have some pride and guts.
Thanks for the heads up re “Miracle” It has been playing on Comcast free movies recently and I did not watch it because I am not a hockey fan. This info sheds a different light on “Miracle” I am going now to search and record the movie and watch it later.
Chancy
Declinism is fashionable right now? Huh? Really? How about the Lord of the Rings trilogy, movies like Independence Day, Armageddon, yadda yadda, movies like Sea Biscuit, movies like Cinderella Man … er, the list goes on and on. These movies are HITS (well, except for Cinderella Man). They may not be good movies but they are the summer blockbuster hits and they are the opposite of “declinism”. They show people triumphing over adversity, acts of heroism, outstanding behavior from ordinary men … Stories of triumph over adversity have ALWAYS been cash cows for Hollywood. ALWAYS.
I personally could do without all the Independence Day rah-rah-rah, it bores the crap out of me, and have movies with a bit more subtlety. Which is why stuff like Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind was my favorite movie in recent years. the fact that it was even MADE in the midst of all the hoo-yah blockbuster bullshit amazed me.
I thought Miracle was an accurate depiction of the pessimism of that time. the long lines for gas, the hostage crisis, etc.
I still think the documentary is far superior – if you get a chance to see it. Because it’s LIVE, it’s REAL … You just can’t beat the real thing.
Yes, they’ve always been cash cows, which is the only reason they get made: because the stupid public likes them and refuses to go see the malaise filled crap that our Hollywood betters would much prefer to have us go see. Listen to what is said nearly anytime that an actor or a director in Hollywood opens their mouth (when someone else hasn’t written the words for them, of course) and yes, declinism is all you hear.
Mr. Bingley: Absolutely not. Triumph over adversity films are cash cows because they RESONATE with audiences. They’re stories that WORK, and have since the beginning of time. The first stories we told to each other as human beings were probably: “So then … it was me against the woolly mammoth … the odds were against me … but look! Now we have dinner!”
I’m so SICK of people bitching and moaning about Hollywood. You got a problem with the views in Hollywood, then become a filmmaker and go make the kinds of movies you think the public “should” want.
Hollywood’s a moneymaking business. So they actually have to listen to the “stupid public”. Independence Day was garbage. But it was a GINORMOUS hit. Therefore: it is a success. I got no problem with that. I personally think movies like Requiem for a Dream and Sophie’s Choice and Eternal Sunshine are FAR superior, but it doesn’t matter. As long as BOTH types of films are still made, I’m fine.
Also: by saying “malaise-filled crap” you are assuming that there is not an audience for that stuff. (I think you need to provide me with some titles, though – because I don’t really know what you are referring to). I say Independence Day was “garbage”. That’s one woman’s opinion. It was a huge hit. Obviously, there’s a reason I’M not making the decisions at the head of a studio.
There’s a problem when you start to think that the public at large SHOULDN’T want to see what it obviously DOES want to see. There’s also a problem when you assume that Hollywood execs don’t know this, and don’t attempt to give the public what they want.
There will always be renegade indie filmmakers who try to make their own stories – maybe this is the “malaise-filled crap” you refer to? But if I actually enjoy some of that stuff – then who are you to say I SHOULDN’T enjoy it?
It’s all about the bottom line. If a film makes money, then that’s the indicator of what the public wants. Everyone knows that.