Miracle (2004)

Unbeknownst to me, the world of international ice hockey was dominated throughout the 1970s by the Russians. In fact, by the time the 1980 Winter Olympics was looming, they looked unbeatable. That was the scenario facing head coach Herb Brooks (played by Kurt Russell), and it was a scenario that led to some major changes in the way that the team was picked and trained.

Based on a true story, this is typical live-action Disney fare. It starts off with Herb applying for, and getting, the head coach position before then showing him selecting his team of young players, working them harder than they've ever been worked before, trying out some unusual tactics and then seeing how things pan out as they play on the national stage.

Director Gavin O'Connor, working from the script by Eric Guggenheim, hits all of the right notes at all of the right moments (just as he would a few years later with Warrior). This is a tale of self-belief, of courage, of sportsmanship and of, well, ice hockey.

Russell is great in the lead role and he gets to work alongside some wonderful talent. Patricia Clarkson plays his supportive wife, Noah Emmerich is an assistant coach who initially doubts his methods and Kenneth Welsh is the team doctor. The young hockey players consist of men picked predominantly for their hockey skills - Eddie Cahill, Patrick O'Brien Demsey and Michael Mantenuto being the three team players who get the most screentime. Thankfully, you wouldn't know that because they do a fine job, although perhaps that IS because they spend a lot of time ice-skating.

This isn't a film for cynics, few Disney films are. There are no surprises here, what with it being based on a true story, but even if you're unfamiliar with what really happened, as I was, then . . . . . . there are no surprises here. It also lacks much humour. This isn't The Mighty Ducks and it seems as if O'Connor wanted to make sure that nobody watching the film would ever forget that. He succeeded. Whereas The Mighty Ducks was a family movie full of great characters and fun moments, this is an uplifting true story, full of good acting, suitable musical accompaniment and a big dollop of good ol' hey hey USA. I prefer the former type of movie myself, but this one is also a good watch.

7/10

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The Truman Show (1998)

In this day and age, we can be going about our daily business and, unwittingly, find ourselves on camera almost all day long. CCTV is so prevalent in the UK that it's easy to imagine the country as nothing more than one big TV studio with all of us citizens starring in some show that we don't know about. Easy to imagine but, of course, complete fiction. What isn't complete fiction is the way in which more and more people, all around the world, now crave fame and put themselves in the public eye to get it at any cost. All you need is a modicum of talent, and sometimes not even that, and an ability to lose your dignity, your privacy and the right to make any human errors without being judged by the watching public. People want fame, people want to be celebrities.

That's the sweetness that lies at the dark heart of The Truman Show, an astonishing film that stars Jim Carrey as Truman Burbank, a man unwittingly the star of a show that enthralls audiences worldwide. Truman Burbank is a huge celebrity, he's the most recognisable man on the planet, and yet he's unaware of it. In fact, Truman seems like the kind of man who wouldn't even want it. He lives his life in blissful ignorance of the fact that cameras are on him at all times, everyone around him just plays whatever part is required to keep his life a seemingly normal one and his world is a brilliantly-realised fake one. Of course, all of these things are also symptoms of some major mental health issues, which is why Truman struggles to grasp the truth even when a number of revealing incidents (a light falling from "the sky£, the reappearance of someone who had died many years before, problems with his car radio) start to make him look closer at everything around him. Would his wife (Laura Linney) be complicit in such a scheme? His best friend (Noah Emmerich)? What about the young woman (Natascha McElhone) he once loved, the one who was then taken away to Fiji after having - no pun intended - "an episode"?

Directed by Peter Weir, with a wonderful script by Andrew Niccol and a beautiful score by Philip Glass, The Truman Show isn't quite perfect but it comes damn close. Carrey gives a great performance in the main role, a role that sees him as the focus of pretty much every shot throughout the movie, but he's also allowed to invest his character with a few mannerisms that we've seen before so there are moments in which he feels like he's doing his schtick as opposed to being the everyman that Truman is. Those moments are very few and far between but they are there. Elsewhere, there's another great turn from Ed Harris as Christof, the creator of The Truman Show and someone with a clear relish for playing god. Paul Giamatti and Philip Baker Hall have small roles in the studio environment, while Harry Shearer also pops up as an interviewer who explains even more about the history and logistics of The Truman Show. Laura Linney is very good as the actress given the job of being Truman's wife and Natascha McElhone does well as a young woman who motivates Truman to want to travel abroad but the star turn really comes from Noah Emmerich, playing Truman's best friend. Emmerich brilliantly captures every aspect of his character, always putting on a convincing performance even while lines are being fed to him via hidden earpiece.

It's sad to see someone so unwittingly manipulated, their every move anticipated and pushed in the right direction, every aspect of their environment controlled and surrounded by people lying 24/7. But perhaps the saddest thing to realise is that celebrities who are aware of their own celebrity status can end up leading lives almost exactly like that of Truman and audiences will often push moral issues to one side whenever something or someone so entertaining pops into their lives.

9/10

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Truman-Show-Blu-ray-Region-Free/dp/B001S3GDVS/ref=sr_1_sc_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1351165240&sr=8-3-spell