Cast: Kurt Russell, Patricia Clarkson, Nathan West
Director: Gavin O’Connor
Screenplay: Eric Guggenheim

Synopsis: Miracle tells the true story of Herb Brooks (Kurt Russell), the player-turned-coach who led the 1980 U.S. Olympic hockey team to victory over the seemingly invincible Russian squad.[1].

Review:

“Miracle” is an inspirational story that touches upon the depths of despair felt throughout the 1970’s America with tones of an underdog American Olympic amateur hockey team with nothing to lose going up against a more seasoned veteran team from the Iron Curtain with fifteen years of domination on the world stage. The true magnitude of the 1980 rise of this American hockey team is felt throughout the movie as we witness firsthand, the discipline and rigor Herb Brooks demanded of his team.

The parallels between “Miracle” and “David versus Goliath” are evident. In “Miracle,” we have the two largest influences in the geopolitical arena in the world at this time, America and the Soviet Union, just as “David versus Goliath” had the Israelites going up against the Philistine army. The major difference is that the battlefield was not in a valley on the ground between two armies, but in a worldwide stage of fair competition, the best of the best. On one side, we have David, an amateur hockey team made up of American college students, and on the other side, Goliath, a professional hockey team which dominated the worldwide competition stage for fifteen years. The genius of Brooks is that he knew this and fully understood what was necessary to win. Just as the Israelites looked upon David at first with trepidation, the American Olympic committee looked upon Brooks with doubt as Brooks wanted to institute an unorthodox training regimen. Eventually, the committee relented, and Brooks proceeded to train the team his way. Brooks realized that he could not match against the Soviets one against one which is evident in the scene where Brooks states that he didn’t pick the best individual players, but chose the best team players. Brooks knew the “hole in the armor” of the soviet team was to at least match them in similar style and teamwork. One interesting criticism that Ebert had about the movie is how faceless the players were. I believe this is actually the genius of the script because for the American players to compete against the Soviets, they had to have their individualism broken down, and be rebuilt as a cohesive united team. The fact that the individual players themselves are not really memorable, but the team is, is a subtlety missed by Ebert in his review.

Another “David versus Goliath” moment came for the writing credits for this 2004 movie, with Mike Rich, the original screenwriter for the screenplay of “Miracle” as David, and the “Writer’s Guild of America West”  (WGAw), as Goliath. During production, there was a rewrite and so per the guidelines of the WGAw, the dispute for credits automatically went to arbitration. The WGAw arbitration is the guild process by which screen credit for a screenplay is decided. Screenwriters complain about this process because it involves an anonymous panel of three members that decide the screen credit with no appeal and no recourse for a complainant. The determination was that “due to many similarities between the characters and major plot points, the two scripts were not that different” and so Guggenheim was awarded sole writer credit. The astounding stupidity of this decision cannot be overstated, as the similarities between characters and major plot points exist because the screenplay is based upon real life events and are unavoidable no matter how a screenplay of these events are written. Guggenheim admits that 100% of what appears on the screen is from Mike Rich’s screenplay. This is one example where David could not slay Goliath.

In summary, “Miracle” as a movie on its own, more of a tribute to Brooks as a man trying to accomplish something fantastic, as redemption for his moment for gold cut short as he was let go from the 1960 Olympic Gold team. This was mirrored in a poignant moment in “Miracle” where Brooks had to cut one more team member before the Olympics. “Miracle” did not embellish or exploit American exceptionalism as much as movies in the same vein have done in the past, and simply kept the battle between the American’s and the Soviet’s a competition of will and skill, and not one about overcoming the “evil reds.” The real battle was the arbitrary arbitration decision that robbed Mike Rich of his writing credit, and one that should be remembered as tribute to this fine film.

References:

  1. “Miracle.” IMDb: The Internet Movie Database. IMDb.com-Amazon.com, 1990-2014. Thurs. 20 Feb. 2014. <http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0349825/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1>.
  2. “Miracle.” Rotten Tomatoes.com, 2014. Thurs. 20 Feb. 2014. <http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/miracle/>.
  3. “Miracle (film).” Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., 2014. Thurs. 20 Feb. 2014. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miracle_%28film%29>
  4. Levy, Shawn. HOLLYWOOD TALE: WRITING THE SCRIPT, LOSING THE CREDIT. Online News Article. THE OREGONIAN. 25 January 2004. 20 Feb. 2014. < http://www.icine.org/mt-archives/000050.html >.
  5. AM Northwest. Hollywood Screenwriter Mike Rich. Katu.com. Sinclair Broadcast Group, 10 Jul 2009. 20 Feb. 2014. <http://www.katu.com/amnw/segments/50477722.html>.
  6. Ebert, Roger. Miracle. Movie Reviews. 2004. Thurs. 20 Feb. 2014. <http://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/miracle-2004>.
  7. Fairchild, Mary. David and Goliath – Bible Story Summary. Online article. Thurs. 20 Feb. 2014. < http://christianity.about.com/od/biblestorysummaries/p/davidandgoliath.htm>.