Movie Review: ‘The Miracle Season’

Review by Jacquelin Hipes

The Miracle Season joins a long and undistinguished line of inspirational sports films banking on a “true story” byline to wring a reaction from the audience, rather than earning it on their own merit. Inspired by the improbable 2011 Iowa State Championship run of the West High School volleyball team, it follows a team and community in mourning after the loss of captain Caroline “Line” Found (Danika Yarosh). An ebullient young woman, her sudden absence particularly affects her best friend Kelly (Erin Moriarty). Quiet where Line was loud, shy where she was raucous, Kelly feels as though a fundamental piece of her identity has been lost along with her friend.

The loss hits doubly hard for Line’s father, Ernie (William Hurt): his wife succumbs to cancer only days after their daughter’s funeral. Such a somber atmosphere allows little room for frivolities like athletics. Kelly and the rest of the team struggle to even show up for practice; when they do, it only takes a few words from Coach Kathy (Helen Hunt) to conjure up a fresh bout of tears. Kathy thinks it might be productive for all of them, herself included, to channel some of that grief into the sport they and Line loved. It takes some convincing to bring Kelly on board, but together they coax the rest of the team into returning to practice.

After forfeiting several matches, West must sweep the remaining season to have a shot at returning to the state championship they mastered the year before. Drawing on the boundless enthusiasm of their departed teammate, the girls and community around them rally together to try and repeat their trophy-winning run in honor of Line. It’s a familiar story and unfortunately The Miracle Season relies on every careworn trick in the book to win your sympathy. Musical cues segue between two dominating emotions: the can-do-it attitude of matches, and the morose reckoning of a life without someone you love. It’s low-hanging fruit that shouldn’t bother younger viewers, although their parents might indulge a few eye rolls.

The girls portraying West High’s volleyball players give generally overwrought performances, although the lingering, repeated close-ups and slow motion spikes don’t help matters. As the two key adults, Hunt and Hurt fare a little better, although they’re given ancillary relationships that just clutter the central story of overcoming adversity. Coach Kathy is apparently undergoing a divorce before Line’s death, but other than an irritated phone call in the film’s opening minutes the process is never touched on again. And Ernie endures some well-intentioned—but poorly timed—sympathetic outreach from a coworker that also exists more or less in a void.

True events like these are always inspiring when reported on the news. Watching a community come together in the wake of an unexpected loss—and its younger members in particular, who may be dealing with such emotions for the first time—in order to honor the departed serves as a bittersweet reminder that those who die don’t ever fully leave us. It’s less inspiring to see those same events play out accompanied by a cheesy soundtrack and some dubious performances. The spirit in which The Miracle Season was made does count for something, though. If it inspires young viewers to summon a similar determination when faced with adversity, it will have done some good beyond entertainment.