Cast: Russell Crowe, Burt Reynolds, Hank Azaria, Mary McCormack, Lolita Davidovich, Ron Eldard, Colm Meaney, Mauray Chaykin, Mike Myers
Director: Jay Roach
Producers: Howard Baldwin, Karen Elise Baldwin, David E. Kelley
Screenplay: David E. Kelley and Sean O'Byrne
Cinematography: Peter Deming
Music: Carter Burwell
U.S. Distributor: Hollywood Pictures
Mystery, Alaska does for hockey what For Love of the Game does for baseball. That may seem like a bizarre statement considering that the plots, characters, and tones of the films couldn't be more dissimilar, but the fundamental premise underlying both is identical: when all is said and done, the joy of playing the game is what matters. For Love of the Game used baseball as its arena, crafting a sentimental big game/love story to drive home the point. Mystery, Alaska takes to the hockey rink, setting up shop in a small town in Alaska populated by oddball characters. It's like a hybrid of "Northern Exposure" and any non-satirical sports movie.
The writer is David E. Kelley (with an assist from Sean O'Byrne), whose presence on TV these days is a force to be reckoned with. He's the man behind "Ally McBeal" (and its new spinoff, "Ally"), "The Practice", and "Chicago Hope." Despite his small-screen potency, however, Kelley has never been able to do much on the motion picture side of the industry. Neither of the films he has produced and scripted (To Gillian on Her 37th Birthday and Lake Placid) has survived at the box office. Now, with a little boost from a release date that coincides with the opening weekend of the NHL season, Kelley is set to try again. And, while Mystery, Alaska is arguably the best of the Kelley big-screen trio, one wonders whether it has the ability to skate with the competition. Won't most real hockey fans be in front of the TV or at the games?
For Mystery, Alaska (which was filmed in Canada, not Alaska), Kelly uses a broad canvas populated by about a dozen idiosyncratic characters. Some, like town sheriff John Biebe (Russell Crowe), are nicely developed and well rounded. Others, like the town lawyer (Maury Chaykin), are put together using poorly connected cliches. The film as a whole is like that - some scenes radiate with a clever, fresh energy while others have the stale taste of recycled leftovers. For example, do we really need a pair of completely superfluous court scenes (one of which devolves into absurd melodrama)? And how necessary is it for the crusty old coach to come out of retirement to turn things around just when hope is failing? Missteps like this hurt the film's overall dramatic arc.
Hockey is everyone's favorite pastime in the fictional town of Mystery. Those who aren't a member of the select few who play in the "Saturday Game" are spectators. When a human interest story on the Mystery Men appears in an issue of Sports Illustrated, the NHL has a brainstorm: why not stage an exhibition in Alaska between the Mystery amateurs and the New York Rangers. The residents of Mystery have a town meeting to discuss the possibility. On hand is Charles Danner (Hank Azaria), the event's promoter, a native of Mystery who has moved to Manhattan but is looking for a way to prove himself to his former friends and neighbors. Everyone on the team is eager to accept the challenge, and the mayor (Colm Meaney) is excited by the possibility of a nationally televised game, but one of the town's most prominent citizens, Judge Burns (Burt Reynolds), cautions: "Two things we've always had in Mystery: our dignity and our illusions."
While the main thrust of the movie is the inevitable build-up to the big game, Mystery, Alaska is top-heavy with underdeveloped subplots. One of the players, Skank (Ron Eldard), is having an affair with the mayor's neglected wife (Lolita Davidovich). Charles is hopeful of rekindling some kind of romantic flame with ex-girlfriend Donna (Mary McCormack), John Biebe's wife. John is coping with the ego-crushing bruise of having been dropped from the team in favor of the much younger, faster Stevie Weeks (Ryan Northcutt). Judge Burns is trying to make peace with his son, his daughter, and the town's hockey-obsessed populace. There are court scenes, sex scenes, a scene with a naked man forced to slide across a patch of ice and into a snow drift, and a lot of hockey. Meanwhile, everyone in Mystery is trying to deal with the realization that this won't be just a nice, friendly exhibition game. Commercialization has hit big time, with the banners of corporate sponsors hung everywhere, and the Rangers are mad as hell about having to give up their All Star break vacation to travel to a small town in the middle of nowhere. Winning is only a secondary concern to the Mystery team - survival and not being embarrassed come in first.
The cast, populated primarily with character actors like Colm Meaney, Mauray Chaykin, Lolita Davidovich, and Ron Eldard, is solid. Lead actor Russell Crowe (L.A. Confidential and the upcoming The Insider), who is building a solid reputation on this side of the Atlantic after coming over from Australia, makes John into a likable character with a little depth. Hank Azaria isn't as successful as Charles - he comes across as little more than a caricature. Burt Reynolds wears a scowl well. Dressed in black with an expression colder than the -10 degree weather, he looks like an emissary of Death. And director Jay Roach's association with Mike Myers pays a dividend (they worked together on Austin Powers and the sequel) - Myers shows up in an uncredited cameo.
As feel-good sports movies go, Mystery, Alaska isn't all bad, although it is poorly focused and overlong. The climactic ice battle between the arrogant, big city professionals and the beloved overachievers is handled well, and only a die-hard Rangers fan would root against the boys from Mystery. Ultimately, however, the film feels a little too familiar. There's hardly anything new in Mystery, Alaska, and, for that reason, it doesn't provide more than a tepid alternative to watching some real hockey action.
© 1999 James Berardinelli