Films based of inspirational sporting events tend to do very well, like “Rudy” or “Hoosiers”. The thing that made these particular films great is the emotional punch that comes with them because they were done right.
“The Miracle Season” is the new film directed by Sean McNamara (Spare Parts, Hoovey) and stars Helen Hunt (Twister, As Good as it Gets), Tiera Skovbye (Midnight Sun, Supernatural), Erin Moriarty (Blood Father, The Watch), Danika Yarosh (Shameless, Heroes Reborn), Jason Gray-Stanford (Monk, Flags of our Fathers), Burkely Duffield (Beyond, Warcraft), Rebecca Staab (The fantastic Four, Love Potion #9), Jillian Fargey (Protection, Kill Me Later), Nesta Cooper, Travelers, The 100), and William Hurt (Dark City, Altered States). Taking place in 2011 at Iowa City, Iowa’s West High School, the girls volleyball team are their state championship defense season. After team captain Caroline “Line” Found (Yarosh) dies from a moped accident and her mother Ellyn (Fargey) passes away from a long battle with cancer, her father William (Hurt) loses all hope. Coach Kathy Bresnahan (Hunt) tries to keep the team together in order to help them heal through the power of team sports.
The look was nothing spectacular but fine overall, showcasing small town America well. The acting was OK, with Hunt and Hurt leading the way as the seasoned actors as they are. The teen cast also does , but when it came to the emotional moments, they fell flat to the point of what felt cheap. This also bleeds over into the script itself, with the level of predictability incredibly high and over-the-top dramatics. The film showed the team as a bunch of girls and the school as perfect America where everything is wonderful, there was no realism in the characters and settings. Even the play-by-play announcer does a horrible job, using words that no announcer would use in real life. WWE’s Michael Cole (who it is well documented I am not a fan of) does a better job announcing that the cast in this film. The only thing that will stop this film by making my Top Ten Worst of the Year is during the credits it showed the real footage and photos of the people and events in a very good way. Even with that, I still will not see this film again.