The new sports film The Miracle Season is pretty much your every day average inspiration sports movie. Only unique thing, I suppose, is that its about girl’s high school volleyball which usually isn’t the focus of your average sports flick. It’s based on a true story (as evidenced by a lot of archival footage from 2010) so that explains the unusual sport. And I suppose the movie is better for it since the rest of the film is only ok.
A winning volleyball team loses its star player and captain which devastates everyone on the team (and in the school). The film is about whether they can get it together again and if the dead player’s best friend can replace her on the team. And if they can then play a miracle season, winning every game to take the top spot two years in a row.
To say they can at least get to the finals goes without saying… since it wouldn’t be much of a movie or true story otherwise. But the fact that the audience pretty much knows how most sports movies end is the challenge to the director, editor, and actors. A good team can make it feel like we don’t know who will win even when we do. This movie fails that… the director just isn’t good enough to make this movie’s sports scenes thrilling. The off-court drama is better though it has some occasional cheesy elements.
Many based-on-a-true story movies has archival photos or footage at the end and this movie actually gets better when we see these scenes. The film did a damn good job of representing the girls and the games… even some of the cheesier movie moments were based on reality.
This isn’t a bad movie… it’s watchable and it has heart. It’s a passable, well acted entertainment… and if you are a volleyball fan, you might more out of it.
Score: 78