Review Copyright Rose Cooper, 2000

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No offense to those who enjoy both, but if there's two things I normally can't stand, it's snow and hockey. Hockey, because it reminds me of snow and ice, and snow, because it's just plain damn cold. Mystery, Alaska has both, in abundance. So why'd I rent this DVD? Hmmm...would you believe, Because It's There? THE STORY (WARNING: **spoilers contained below**) Baseball may be "America's Pastime", but for the residents of Mystery, Alaska, hockey's the only game in town. They live and breathe for the 4-on-4 Saturday Game, in which the best townsmen play each other on Mystery's frozen-over pond. The whole town supports them in this, sitting out in below-freezing temperatures each Saturday just to see them play. To say that they are team boosters is an understatement; they live for the Saturday Game. The current lineup of players include team captain and town Sheriff John Biebe (Russell Crowe), whose place on the team is threatened by up-and-coming teen phenom Stevie Weeks (Ryan Northcott); Skank Marden (Ron Eldard), whose name mirrors his reputation; Connor Banks (Michael Buie), the best player on the team, not to mention being a pretty good grocer; "Tree" Lane (Kevin Durand) - one guess why he has that name; "Birdie" Burns (Scott Grimes), a youngster out to prove himself worthy in the eyes of his teammates and father; and the kick-butt Winetka Brothers Ben (Leroy Peltier) and Galin (Adam Beach). Such is a source of pride for being picked by the townfathers to play in the Saturday Game, that those who have never been picked - like stern Judge Walter Burns (Burt Reynolds) - tend to become bitter about it; and those who are picked, but may be past their time - like Biebe - have trouble envisioning life after hockey. Charles Danner (Hank Azaria) was one ex-local who didn't get into the game, though; teased by the locals for his inability to skate, he left Mystery for the Big City, becoming a big shot writer and producer. His positive story in "Sports Illustrated" about the Mystery Boys buzzes up the townfolk, including John's wife Donna (Mary McCormack) and lockerroom-trained kids Michael (Joshua Silberg) and Joey (Regan Sean O'Brien-Macelwain), Mayor Scott Pitcher (Colm Meaney) and his wife Mary Jane (Lolita Davidovich), and lawyer Bailey Pruitt (Maury Chaykin). But when the article convinces the New York Rangers hockey team to come to Mystery and play the boys, will Mystery's hometown pride turn their "dignity and illusions" into bittersweet reality? THE UPSHOT Besides snow and hockey, Mystery, Alaska also has an abundance of something else: heart. More akin to the "baseball movie" The Natural than to For Love Of The Game, the tale told in Mystery has a true downhome feeling to it that Kevin "Aww Shucks" Costner couldn't touch with kid gloves. Ironically, I caught the tail end of The Natural on cable just before watching Mystery, and not long after I re-watched the On Hallowed Ground documentary; I think it was karma at work again. I enjoyed Mystery a lot more than I would've given it credit for initially. That I'd dig Russell Crowe (with that pretty long hair of his, pre-The Insider and Gladiator) was a no-brainer. But the inclusion of Ron Eldard [whose character's name - "Skank" - is beautifully well-fitting; I was floored that a Hollywood writer like Kelley would have it in him to come up with something like that. But I digress.] threw me for a loop. I haven't much liked him since his days in NBC's ER and I was completely prepared to dislike him here. Didn't happen. In fact, I can't remember a single character in this movie that didn't work for me; they all seemed to fit, and made the movie all the more better for it. If you've ever watched The Natural, you know that it was all Warm And Fuzzy [except for the parts in which it weren't. I know. Work with me here.]; all soft lights and Deeply Sincere speeches. In my eyes, these weren't Bad Things - indeed, The Natural remains one of my most favorite movies, because it eclipsed my built-in cynicism about such things, with its tenacity, not to mention its great cast - but that's what I had expected "Mystery's" snow-n-ice version of The Natural's down-on-the-farm groove, to be like. That, or something completely Hollywood-ish [you know what I mean: the natives sit around in igloos, a local boy who left the village to Make Something Of Himself, soon realizes that There's No Place Like Home, and in general, Love Conquers All. blech.] It is to this movie's credit - and no doubt, its short stay in theaters - that it fit neither mold, at least not completely. The best word I can use to describe the feel of "Mystery's" characters is, "real". From the townspeople, to the players, to the wives and their children, it never felt like a Hollywood fantasy of what Alaskans would be like, and in fact, the only noticible phonies in this film, were the outsiders - the "New York Rangers", Michael McKean's character [I guess I was wrong: there was a character that didn't work for me] and especially the television group (make that two characters: the mistakenly-cast Mike Myers as a joke of a sports announcer). This is not to say that Mystery, Alaska was a documentary-perfect version of what Real Alaskans would be like; heck, aside from an online friend who lives there, I can't say that I know any Real Alaskans. What I am saying (no doubt, pretty badly) is that the actors portrayed their characters in a non-patronizing manner, without the Nobel Savages haze that (I keep coming back to him) a Costner film, for instance, would've added to it. There were far too many characters in this movie for me to make note of, as I usually do; but surprisingly for such a large cast, they blended well. Crowe, my favorite chameleon, was good in an almost-but-not-quite cliched role (he must be the current poster boy in Hollywood for Strong Silent types); a scene in which his character "tells" his wife how he feels about her was particularly charming, and was typical of the feel of this movie. Like his character, John Biebe, Crowe carried the banner for his fellow actors by the strength of his portrayal; and like Biebe's teammates, each of the actors supported Crowe with the specialized skill each possessed. Likewise, David E. Kelley's writing and Jay Roach's directing were good - again, leaving behind the cliches and stereotypes for the most part - and the breathtaking cinematography (shot in Alberta, Canada) was beautifully done. It's just too bad that there probably won't be a Mystery, Alaska sequel; I'd like to see this group in another production together, even if it meant [shudder] more snow and hockey. THE "BLACK FACTOR"    [ObDisclaimer: We Are Not A Monolith] You'll note above that singer (um) Little Richard was included in the cast. You probably wonder why. When I saw his scenes, I definitely did. "DVD THINGIES" I did a dumb thing: I returned my rented copy of Mystery to Netflix.com before I took good notes on the techie DVD features, so I'm winging this one. As expected, the DVD didn't offer a whole lot by way of techie DVD thingies; certainly, nothing to the tune of a The Matrix DVD or the like. Along with the standard stereo and closed captioning choices, there were also choices for English and French spoken language, trailers for Mystery as well as Sixth Sense and Happy, Texas (both of which seemed pretty apropos in being attached to this movie), and a fairly standard yet still interesting "making-of" feature. Nothing to write home about, maybe, but I didn't rent the movie for its gee-whiz techie DVD thingies, so no biggie. BAMMER'S BOTTOM LINE It's a good thing we've revised our ratings system. I have to revisit For Love Of The Game and downgrade its rating; no way does it deserve to sit on the same shelf with Mystery, Alaska. MYSTERY, ALASKA:   back to top And that's the way I see it. Rose "Bams" Cooper 3BlackChicks Review™ Copyright Rose Cooper, 2000 EMAIL: bams@3blackchicks.com    ICQ: 7760005 http://www.3blackchicks.com/