2.5 stars. Rated PG, for no particular reason
By Derrick Bang • Originally published in The Davis Enterprise, 4.6.18
Inspirational sports sagas tend
to be bullet-proof, and even this one builds to an exhilarating climax.
Getting there, however, is
another matter entirely.
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| Caroline "Line" Found (Danika Yarosh, No, 9) and a cluster of her teammates — from left, Kelley Fliehler (Erin Moriarty, No. 19), Taylor (Lillian Doucet-Roche, No. 14), Brie (Tiera Skovbye, No. 8) and Mack (Natalie Sharp) — get ready for another intense volleyball drill. |
Granted, The Miracle Season is based on actual events, but that’s no excuse
for director Sean McNamara — aided and abetted by scripters David Aaron Cohen
and Elissa Matsuida — to lard the pathos with a trowel. So many tight-tight-tight
close-ups of tears and quivering lips. The pregnant pauses, long-suffering
sighs and anguished glances heavenward. Melodramatic dialogue so insufferably
sugary-sweet that it’ll send insulin-dependent viewers into a diabetic coma.
The swelling orchestral flourishes from Roque Baños’ histrionic score.
McNamara makes no secret of his
desire to craft — whether as director, writer or producer — wholesome,
family-friendly dramas; one need only read his IMDB bio. That’s well and good,
but there’s a chasm of atmospheric distinction between “wholesome” and
“gag-inducing sentimental slush.”
I kept waiting for some of this
film’s performers to throw up their arms, burst into a heartrending
Shakespearean soliloquy, and expire on camera.
It genuinely grieves me to be so
mean-spirited, given McNamara’s sincere intent, and the authentic real-world
tragedy-turned-triumph that inspired his film ... but that’s the problem. He
tries much, much too hard; he should
have had more faith in the strength of the story itself, and trusted his
audience to “get it,” without jerking his puppet master strings so blatantly.
And repeatedly.
The setting is Iowa City’s West
High School, where newly minted seniors and longtime best buds Caroline Found
(Danika Yarosh) and Kelley Fliehler (Erin Moriarty) eagerly await the start of
volleyball season, revved up to repeat their previous year’s championship
victory. Coach Kathy “Brez” Bresnahan (Helen Hunt), while sharing this desire,
wisely cautions against cockiness and entitlement.
As a redundant voice-over
narrator needlessly informs us, during a Hallmark greeting-card prologue,
Caroline — everybody calls her “Line” — is one of the magical, charismatic
wonders who inspires everybody to be better versions of themselves.
