Miracle

[Carl]

I saw a sneak preview of Miracle the other day. It's the story of the 1980 US Olympic hockey team, who won the gold in Lake Placid against some serious odds. As the Patriots have proven twice in the last 3 years, teamwork is a powerful force, and you will not forget this after watching the movie.

I was pleased that Miracle did not cheese out on the hockey scenes by using quick, distracting editing to make up for the fact that actors cannot skate. From what I could tell, these guys were really skating and the action on the ice was quite realistic. This is refreshing after seeing a movie like Bend It Like Beckham where the soccer scenes show a girl kicking a ball followed by a quick cut of the ball going in the net. I'm still trying to figure out why people liked that one.

Another great thing Miracle did to avoid a common cop-out was to give us an update on what the players are doing now. Here's where the music portion of this post comes in: as the closing credits start, "Dream On" plays, and they show each player in the movie with the credit for who played him and his current job title. It's really interesting because these are all guys who followed their dreams and managed to pull off a sports "miracle," and now many of them are financial advisors or consultants. They aren't what you would think of as "dream jobs," but it makes you consider a few things-

Does your job define who you are? Can you follow your dreams and still end up selling insurance? I say yes.

Can you follow your dreams within a mundane-sounding job, or is that reserved for firefighers, actors, athletes and musicians? Again I say yes. If you are passionate and dedicated to your job, that's what matters. I know someone who works in customer service and takes great pride in helping people solve their problems.

This movie has to do with a lot more than hockey, and I really enjoyed it.

[Mike]

That sounds really cool. Can't wait to see this film!

On a couple other relations to this thread... Kurt has a son Wyatt who plays hockey, in fact he bought a house up here in my neck of the woods so him and Goldie could better support his endevours. Russell played the most convincing Elvis role in film history (also uncredited voice of Elvis in Forrest Gump).