Miracle

"You're missing some of the best players."
"I'm not looking for the best players, Craig. I'm looking for the right ones."

With the 1980 Olympics approaching, the U.S. Olympic Committee hires the University of Minnesota head coach, Herb Brooks (Russell) to coach the U.S. Olympic Hockey team.  The U.S. has not had a winning hockey team in years.  Brooks and Assistant Coach Craig Patrick (Emmerich) are tasked with finding the roster for a winning hockey team.

The best collegiate hockey players come to open tryouts with hopes of making the team, but Brooks already has his team in mind.  In a single day he narrows the field to 26, ultimately taking 20 men to the Olympics.  They are not necessarily the best players, they are the players that can work the best for the team.  They include: goalie Jim Craig (Cahill), who is still reeling from his mother's death and off his game; and old rivals Jack O'Callahan (Mantenuto) and Rob McClanahan (West) who hate each other.

As Herb tries to unite his team, they set their sights on keeping up with the U.S.S.R. team.  The U.S.S.R. has the best team in the world: even better than the National Hockey League (NHL).  No one can last against them, do a group of college players even have a chance?


This film is based on the true story of the 1980 United States Olympic Hockey Team.  It's a great underdog story.  Since it's a sports film, and actually happened, it is easy to guess the outcome.  In spite of that information, the filmmakers still manage to make a suspenseful, intriguing film.

According to IMDb.com, the members of the films hockey team were hired because of their skating abilities.  Unlike other sports films that are filmed from a distance to allow real skaters / players to do the action sequences while subbing the actors for closeups.  In this film, the actors could skate and play hockey well, which allowed plausible action scenes.

Each player has a distinct personality and style, with a few standouts played by good actors.  Eddie Cahill stands out as goalie Jim Craig.  Kurt Russell works well as the coach that no one understands, but gets the results he wants.  Overall, an excellent true story / action flick.

Miracle (2004) 135 minutes
Rating: PG
Director: Gavin O'Connor
Starring: Kurt Russell as Herb Brooks
Patricia Clarkson as Patty Brooks
Noah Emmerich as Craig Patrick
Eddie Cahill as Jim Craig
Patrick O'Brien Demsey as Mike "Rizzo" Eruzione
Michael Mantenuto as Jack O'Callahan
Nathan West as Rob McClanahan