Review of Mystery, Alaska on DVD
A Small Alaska Town on the Outskirts of Greatness
With the production of 1999’s Mystery, Alaska (Disney/Touchstone Pictures), writer David E. Kelley (Ally McBeale) and director Jay Roach (Austin Powers) created a little town where dreams loom as large as the Northern sky. Now available on DVD, this little gem of a movie will irresistably work its way into the hearts of any and all who watch events unfold. Small town values never had it so good. Or, so cold.
Where Ice Hockey Rules
Tucked away behind stoic glaciers of frozen tundra, the town of Mystery, Alaska is the kind of community where the sheriff is called by his first name, where the mayor makes up the entire membership of the Chamber of Commerce, and where the town judge dispenses steely-eyed pragmatism over the whole populace. Sarah Palin, eat your heart out!
In a town where your car motor freezes up on a daily basis and hot potatoes are used to warm the insides of your boots, there is not much else to do except cuddle up with a warm body (as one character seems to do at every opportunity!), or hit the ice and skate like you were born to it. Some folks in Mystery choose to do both things, but all take pride in only one.
The Saturday Hockey Game is legendary in Mystery, with a group of town “elders” deciding who should play and who should sit. Big-city-living, prodigal native son Charlie Danner (Hank Azaria) writes a sports magazine cover story on this serious game (he titles it “The Roots of Hockey”). The piece catches the attention and curiosity of a national audience and prompts the NHL New York Rangers to challenge the Mystery players to a game of ice pond hockey. That’s when things begin to get really interesting.
Russell Crowe on Thin Ice
John Biebe, the team captain, town sheriff, and the heart of the movie, is portrayed with quiet, handsome dignity by Russell Crowe. Long before he achieved Gladiator/Beautiful Mind fame, Crowe was starring in movies such as this, working on perfecting the brooding/sensitive leading man persona. Here, he is a man fighting against time, and facing the end of his reign as a major player in the big game. It’s bad enough that for the past 13 years of consistently playing in the Saturday game, John Biebe has never scored a goal. Now, he faces the reality of losing the speed of his youth, losing his spot on the team, and potential losing his wife Donna (Mary McCormack) to her former beau, Charlie Danner.
More Than Just Small Town Life
Mystery, Alaska is somewhat high on saccharine and thick with cute. It's often hokey and, at times, downright silly. Yet, the movie's saving grace is found in the message of how people with unfulfilled hopes and dashed dreams can still triumph in the end as long as they have love, a common purpose, and the loyalty of a few good friends.
The movie is not just Northern Exposure-on-skates, and it’s more than just a grown-up version of the Mighty Ducks films. It’s not even just a tale of living in a small town. What this little movie depicts is a larger lesson in how the game of life can be won when you put all your heart into it. And while Mystery, Alaska generates more than its fair share of over-the-top sentiment, the combined competence of the writers and talented actors more than compensate for it’s storybook presentation.
From the very first salvo of insulting television commentary to the ensuing media circus, Mystery, Alaska shows how a town pulls together beneath the onslaught of attention from the "lower 48," which threaten to rob them of everything they hold dear: Their pride, integrity and cultural identity.
In addition to Russell Crowe, the movie features Burt Reynolds as a tight-lipped town judge, and Ron Eldard as a good-time hockey stud, appropriately named Skank. It’s rated R, but can be equally enjoyed by adults and older teens.
Northern Glaciers
|
Ice Hockey is Life
|
What do you think about this article?
More in Film & TV
Latest Articles