“Do you believe in Miracles?”

For people who have never heard of the 1980 Olympic “miracle on ice” – the film might not work, because it is not clear, exactly, what the big deal is. I walked into it knowing the implications of that hockey-game, understanding the hugeness of it, with personal memories of that time, and, judging from the majority of the audience (all men, many of them wearing hockey jerseys) they understood the theme, too. But if you don’t know the actual story, it might feel like kind of a slow weird film. “Soviets”? Really?

The film does weave in excerpts from the news at that time, the invasion of Afghanistan, the “crisis of confidence” speech – but it runs over the opening credits, and if you’re not aware that the story they REALLY are telling is: “The Cold War was at its height. And in the middle of one of the tensest moments – 2 hockey teams faced off…” it might be a bit baffling.

They cast extremely well. The guys look very much like their real counterparts. The young actors hey had some of the essence of the original real guys.

Aruzione’s open-faced enthusiasm, O’Callahan’s attitude – the fighting Irish, the sensitivity of Jim Craig … The casting did half the work for them, it was perfect.

The filming of the miracle on ice is great. You are out on the ice, the entire time, in the middle of the game. It is confusing, loud, thrilling – You are rarely up in the stands, seeing all of the action. And yet – in the crucial moments – like Aruzione’s goal that put them in the lead – (that basically won the game for them) the action slows down a bit, so you can see exactly what is happening, you can get a sense of the import of it.

And Kurt RUSSELL.

His appearance transforms, yes, but – there’s also an interior shift. He is not recognizable as the Kurt Russell persona (and I’m not just talking about that goofy hair and the plaid pants). He has become Herb Brooks. His voice is different, his manner is different – Russell has obviously studied footage of Brooks like a maniac, his performance is incredibly detailed, and spot-on.

There’s a moment in the HBO documentary, during an interview with the real Brooks, when you get a glimpse of the power of this man as a coach. It’s very subtle, the hairs rise up on my arms at the same moment, every time I see it.

It’s the kind of influence any great teacher has. Not only is what they are saying meaningful, and important – but it is HOW they say it.

Brooks was describing the US team;s nervewracking arrival at Lake Placid. Brooks had felt for years that the Russian team was too cocky, they were OVER-confident. The US team was terrified and intimidated by the Soviet team, especially since they had just been crushed by them at Madison Square Garden 3 days before. Brooks started to chip away at the mystique with his team – making fun of the looks of the players, giving them all silly nicknames …

Anyway, Brooks is describing this – and he says, “I kept saying to the team – whetting their appetite – ‘Someone’s gonna beat those guys. I don’t like how they’re playing. They think they’re better than they are.’ I made fun of the Russian players – to relax my team, to help them build up their confidence – but also – to remind them … Someone’s gonna beat those guys.”

I suppose you have to hear how he says it, to get the power of it.But it is clear, in that moment, in how he keeps repeating, like a mantra, “Someone’s gonna beat those guys” – that Herb Brooks is a motivational and inspirational man.

One of the sportscasters interviewed for the documentary said, “For a few hours – a magical coach convinced a magical group of kids – that they could do something … that they really, actually, couldn’t do.”

This is the power of Herb Brooks – and Kurt Russell GETS that. He’s not a nice guy, he’s tough on them, there are no warm and cuddly moments – nothing like that. But he makes them a team, dammit, and he recognizes what is great in all of them. Not as individuals, but as a unit.

The best part of the film is the ending. Not the US team winning – but what happens immediately following.

Everyone flips out, of course. The team is rolling around, crying, screaming, hugging – the entire rink is losing its mind – Al Michaels is screaming like a lunatic (they use most of his original voice over, which is so fun, because he completely LOSES it) –

During the hullaballoo, Herb Brooks rushes away from the rink, back up towards the locker room.

(Geek alert: The same thing occurs in the documentary. Herb Brooks did not rush out onto the ice to hug his guys, to congratulate them – He completely backed away from the moment – and there is a shot of him hurrying up the ramp away from the ice)

I always wondered:

Was he overcome with emotion and he wanted to hide it? Where was he going?

I always just imagined that Herb Brooks, the tough hockey coach, who screamed “I’ll bury your goddamn stick down your throat!” at a player from Czechoslovakia during the early rounds of the Olympics when the Czech knocked Mark Johnson to the ice in a cheap shot – Brooks screamed this on national television – love it – Anyway, I always imagined that this rough gruff man, who loved it when all the players were bonded together in their collective hatred of him – was completely overcome with emotion and had to get away to express it in private.

The film sort of comes to that conclusion, too – but it’s not an in-your-face moment, where we get a close-up of Russell’s tear-streaked face, and we understand that all of his dreams have come true (cue: violins).

No. It’s subtler than that. The camera keeps its distance from the moment – which is a great choice – because then it lets the audience feel it, fully.