Review of The Miracle Season (2018) by Paige B — 18 Apr 2018

The movie is based on a true story about a single inspirational person who shined bright enough to inspire others, even after her death. I appreciate movies like that, as 1 person can continue to inspire the viewers to live up to their full potential, in everything they do. The volleyball scenes were cool and I learned more about the sport that I did not know before. Some scenes really worked well, while a few others kind of fell flat. I felt like it was a very cool movie about volleyball but with a few sappy, sometimes lame, in-between scenes stringing it all together. What worked for me: 1) The main coach driving the team to win, at all costs, then learning at the end how to let go and let her team have fun. (For the team to win 2 state championships, you kind of know this had to be the truth: the girls would have had great difficulty overcoming their grief in order to pull that off). 2) Caroline's father gets an invitation to go to church but it does NOT come from the church pastor. (My take is: it's awkwardly obvious what the pastor might gain from someone needing their church to process grief. In a small Midwestern town, though, it is highly realistic that the community would come together for the greiving father in many ways, including church invitations, not to give money, but to grieve in good company, and talk through it, within a peaceful setting.

What did NOT work for me: 1) The 2 little girls making "mud angels". That scene seemed highly unrealistic and a bit pointless, as the attempts to make the mud angels also failed, very obviously. If they made snow angels as kids, I don't know what's wrong with showing them doing that, except I guess you'd have to wait until Winter to shoot that scene. 2) Some of the jokes had that kind of "wonk-wonk" feeling: Example: "I'm looking forward to it, that is, unless I'm lying about coming." (Strange joke). And also the joke about the Charlie Brown teachers were just very outdated, indicating the movie is meant for an older generation than the generation portrayed. Caroline's father tells far better jokes; everyone else is just a failed comedian. 3) The coach bringing over a lasagna, to the grieving father, "from Target": seems cheap and not really appropriate as a grief gift. I come from the Midwest, so this kind of stuff bugs me; carelessness in movies about "flyover country". The lasagna would either have been home-made or it comes from Omaha Steaks, etc. It would be a high quality meal that is meant as an honest gift. Unless those actors honestly settled for a microwave meal from Target, the lines should have reflected what those 2 actors were honestly willing to eat. Even the dog dove right in, like it's far tastier than the brand label she gave it would suggest. Yes, it's the Midwest, but if the girl's father was a surgeon, I'm betting they typically ate better.

If I were the one writing, I'd also have the snow angels /snowball fight scene come a bit more naturally. Nobody would need to make an announcement to bring the bus to screeching halt, just to waste some time right next to the interstate. The snow angels and snowballs would have taken place at a rest stop instead, while waiting on a few of their teammates and honestly killing time. It's still possible to have the coach come to an understanding about pressure to win vs. fun, while the rest of the team is enjoying a sandwich at a nearby picnic table, they share a group hug there, and then Kelly jumps into the snow to start the snow angels scene. That's just my take.

So overall: wonderful idea for a movie and definitely written and directed with the right spirit. I just want to explain why some of the scenes struck me as a little bit clunky, and would have boosted the movie a bit if omitted or just changed a little bit.