Hi, everyone. "Moriarty" here with some Rumblings From The Lab...
I’m curious to see how the screenwriting credit on this one shakes out. Mike Rich (FINDING FORRESTER, RADIO) is the one who did all the heavy lifting, but there’s a chance he’s going to get completely boned on final credit thanks to the sometimes infuriating arbitration process that the WGA has in place.
For now, the pertinent question is... any good?
dlaor here. i sent you guys a review of step into liquid a few months back. i just got back from a screening of “miracle” in pasadena tonight, and I wanted to pass along my thoughts. i know you guys just posted a link to the trailer, but i havent gotten a chance to download it yet, as i wanted to go into the screening pretty much cold.
in case folks don’t know, the film is about the 1980 u.s. olympic hockey team, coached by herb brooks, played here by kurt russell, in what appears to be a really bad toupe. i kept looking at his hair, and you can see some scalp at the part, so i guess the hair’s real, but it looks really weird. the first time i saw it, i almost laughed, but you get used to it after a bit. hair issues aside, kurt’s really solid in the film, delivering a very good performance.
we watch as brooks assembles his team of college players, working them incredibly hard in an attempt to create a team capable of defeating the running champion soviets. the soviets, we learn, have won the gold every olympics since 1960. that year, the gold went to the u.s. coincidentally, brooks was on that team, though he was sent home a week before the olympics and thus didn’t get a medal. we learn that this is why he is so dedicated to win.
russell is flanked by noah emmerich as his assistant coach and patricia clarkson as his wife (is it just me or does she seem to be showing up in everything all of a sudden? it feels like i’ve seen her in more films in the last year than i did between the untouchables and green mile). both give good performances and flesh out what we know about brooks, but the rest of the cast is mostly people i’ve never seen before. don’t get me wrong, the players are portrayed by a good bunch of actors, they’re just ones i’ve never heard of.
i had heard going into it that the film had been running a bit long and that the studio had been trying to trim it down. it’s true, the film’s a tad lengthy, though i am quick to point out that i never got bored with it. there was a rumor that the third period of the final game had been done in real time, with the real al michaels commentary on the soundtrack, but the version i saw had been compressed to about ten minutes (a full period in hockey runs twenty). the film seems to run by the facts instead of by traditional hollywood doctrine when it comes to the game (that means there aren’t as many last-second at the buzzer goals scored here).
there are a couple of marvelous scenes in the film, and perhaps one or two more montages than are absolutely necessary. but keep an eye out for the following scene. after a game they tie against the norweigian team, brooks makes the team run drills on the ice late into the night, over and over, until they are all exhausted and numerous guys are on their knees dry heaving. i don’t know what the drill is actually called, but my old soccer coach called them suicides, where you run to the blue line and back, and then to the center line, and back, and then to the next blue line, etc. etc. brooks explains that if they can only tie the norweigians, they don’t have a chance of beating the soviets. even after the rink owner has turned off the lights and left, brooks makes them keep running, his assistant coach blowing the whistle to commence each run. the scene is really well done.
now, the film is produced by disney, and i assume it’ll be a PG film like remember the titans. i tell ya, i think disney’s becoming the place to make a period piece real life sports film. remember the titans was a great film, and this one is just as strong. i thoroughly enjoyed it.
oh, by the way, i caught that screening of taking lives on sunday, with the requiem for a dream temp track that really took you out of the film. this one had a temp track, too, and while i recognized a lot of the music tonight, it still worked and didnt take me out of it. i guess it just goes to show that, if you’re doing a temp music track, you just shouldn’t use anything too recognizable.
anyway, hope this helps. all my best,
dlaor.
Thanks, man.
"Moriarty" out.
