3. Slap Shot (1977)
Starring Paul Newman in the very unconventional (especially for him) role of player/coach Reggie (Reg) Dunlop, a serial liar and womanizer who is long past his prime as a player. But he's not ready to hang up the blades and retire the ax, mostly because he doesn't know what the hell he's going to do without hockey. People like Coach Dunlop don't have a long term plan, they just wake up hungover and then wing their way through getting to the next day. But those who don't know better can't see through it and want to believe in old Reg, and will do anything for him. Those who are onto him have learned the hard way and are trying to find a way to start a life that doesn't involve him. It sounds like I'm describing a serious drama at this point which brings me to the huge ironic hook. This movie is a balls to the wall comedy that can make you laugh so hard that you feel like one of the Hanson brothers just sucker punched you in the gut. Just watch this opening scene where French Canadian goalie Denis Lemieux explains "the finer points of hockey" to a tv audience:
So why isn't it in the comedy category? It could go there, but this is at its heart a sports movie and not one that is meant to inspire or make you feel good.
Writer Nancy Dowd's brother Ned was a minor league hockey player in the 1970s who played in the American Hockey League. When she was 31 years old, she decided to commit the stories that she was hearing from her brother to a screenplay. She went on to write what the New York Times referred to as "the bawdiest, most obscenity sprinkled major movie ever made...about a violent, minor league hockey team led by Paul Newman." The rawness of this movie was so shocking in its day that most people she met couldn't believe that a woman wrote it. "The world has a weird view of women" she said. "People seem to believe that we have to write about divorce or suicide or children - so-called 'women's topics.' But we've been around. Women aren't sequestered anymore." The 'Times' went on to describe her as "a young woman who appears to know more about the content and rhythm of locker room talk than most men."
Why did she write this movie? "Ned would call me from these various towns-Utica, Syracuse, New Haven- and tell me how he was being beaten up and having his teeth knocked out...it sort of fascinated me." In his second season, Dowd spent a month on the road with her brother doing her research for the movie. Slap Shot is a result of her notes and tape recordings in that month. Minor league hockey players to this day know the movie by heart and speak to its authenticity as far as what it is like to grind it out on the ice and tour busses from paycheck to paycheck trying to pay the rent. A bunch of guys doing the only thing they know how to do in a gritty industrial town and the things they do to keep their spirits up are often not healthy or role model behaviour. And that reality is the star of this show. This is not a movie that young kids will watch and make them want to start playing hockey, which immediately distinguishes it in the sports movie category. But what it does portray is exactly what those dreamy young kids will find on the first day they begin to fulfill their dream of becoming a professional hockey player.
So grab a case of beer and a couple of your rowdy friends and enjoy Slap Shot while appreciating that you don't have to depend on hockey to make a living.
_____
Before I move on to my first runner up, I really struggled with putting this next one in at all because there really is more to sports movies than hockey. This movie is also such an about-face from the previous movie that I run the risk of appearing schizophrenic while I talk about what is good about...
2. Miracle (2004)
Kurt Russel went method for his portrayal as Herb Brooks, the enigmatic and manically driven coach of the 1980 USA Olympic gold medal winning hockey team. This movie checks all the cliche boxes, which is another reason that I struggle with putting it on the list. Underdog team? Check. Unbeatable opponent? Check. Injury to a critical player at the worst time? Check. All story lines serve the purpose of converging on the "BIG GAME" at the end? Check check check check check.
So what's so good about it? First of all, this is a piece of American history so beloved, that even non-sports fans remember how excited they were when it happened. It is also the antithesis of Slap Shot and in every way is the movie that inspires the youngins to lace up the skates. These things alone put the movie in contention as being culturally significant. But a story alone does not a movie make my friends. And how many inspiring movies have you seen about a coach who more than anything else, succeeded by making his players hate his guts? What may not be known by those who only know the "great moments in Olympic history" aspect of this story is that many of the most noteworthy players on that roster came from rival college teams. They knew each other, had played against each other, and a few had long memories about scores they wanted to settle from past encounters. Herb Brooks took the unconventional approach of uniting his players in their dislike for their coach. That wasn't the only thing unconventional that he did with this team. He also challenged the USA Hockey association by choosing his roster without their input, had his players take psychology tests, and fiercely shielded everyone from the exposure of the media.
What the movie gets right: real life achievements aren't cool or pretty, they are the result of making a decision to push onward when all of your instincts may be telling you that you can't or maybe that you shouldn't. There are scenes portraying the lengths that coach Brooks went to that are disturbing and make you question his sanity. This could have been easily glossed over in a Disney made movie. They didn't. Team captain Mike Eruzione said many years after their triumphant game that he would never be comfortable around Herb Brooks. Kurt Russel plays this driven man with a fervor that is awesome, intense, and at times terrifying. A locker scene where he tells an injured player to "PUT YOUR GEAR ON" or otherwise "PUT YOUR STREET CLOTHES ON BECAUSE I'VE GOT NO TIME FOR QUITTERS" is a scene that needs to be seen to be believed. In fact, how about we take a moment to watch:
Alone, this may look exactly like something calling for an intervention, and this is not the hardest scene to watch and be ok with. But Miracle combines these with other scenes where Herb argues to the USA Hockey Association that he's not looking for the best players, he's looking for the right ones and another scene where he coldly states to his assistant coach that he had them take psychology tests so that he would know how hard he could push them.
This all sets up the audience to not just enjoy the absolute euphoria of winning a game, but to understand that the way those kids felt that day had little to do with just a game. They had taken the biggest risk of their lives with no guarantees in trusting that a potential mad man could lead them to discover greatness within themselves. It gives new appreciation to what it takes to grow into something bigger than you ever imagined for yourself, and that's what those guys did. It was the most exhilarating ride of their young lives. The real star is the culture ingrained in a winning team. Few teams are able to duplicate the culture that Brooks created within his locker room, and this movie provides deep insights into what he did to make them accomplish the impossible.
Tune in tomorrow for the winner and an Honorable Mention. It's getting late and I'm tired, but I wanted to provide something to keep this going.
1 comment:
I'm HOOKED!! And love that you're including video clips. This is really good stuff. Hope you're planning to open this up to more readers!!
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