The Miracle Season

The Miracle Season is an inspiring account of a true story. The acting and narration respectfully accommodate the actual people involved. This is sure to be a worthwhile watch for any sports movie fan.

The story follows talented volleyball team, The Women of Troy, as they seek to win the championship. However, a tragic accident results in the death of team leader Caroline Found (Danika Yarosh). As a result, the team disbands in mourning, with coach Kathy (Helen Hunt) trying to lighten and reunite its hopeless members. Caroline's best friend Kelly (Erin Moriarty) chooses to become team leader and respect Caroline by espousing the championship. This results in a grueling training season where all team members must put aside their grief and work together to compete. With extreme stakes at hand, the team must win in order to fully respect Caroline's legacy and rectify their losses.

Helen Hunt, as Kathy, incredibly presents her tough-love attitude towards her team and their determination to win the championship. She performs wonderfully in depicting Kathy's attempt to imbue the team with a purpose in the most hopeless of circumstances. Erin Moriarty, as Kelly, excellently portrays her growth from novice volleyball player to motivating leader. Danika Yarosh, as Caroline, exceptionally characterizes her teenage friendship with Kelly, including some recklessness at times. This allows her accident to have an emotional weight to it. William Hurt, as Ernie, is my favorite character due to his character arc through his grief of his daughter's death, as he slowly pushes people closest to him away. His friendship with Kathy allows for a humanizing and emotionally charged redemption from his self-pity.

Sean McNamara directs the movie with a scenic chronological representation of the events that happened in real life. My favorite scene is one where Kelly and Ernie talk about their regrets, resulting in Ernie asking Kelly to stop being so harsh on herself. I love how it portrays a relatable aspect of life. The flaw with the movie comes in the first act, when it feels like another cliché teen drama. Fortunately, it improves once the more humanizing aspects of the story come into play. However, there is an overuse of mainstream music during much of the movie, which results in a few of the most emotional scenes being completely nullified.

The message of this movie is to always remain as a source of hope for others. Despite the extreme pressure the team faces, Kelly always finds a way to assure her teammates. I give this film 3.5 out of 5 stars and recommend it for ages 6 to 18.

Reviewed by Arjun N., KIDS FIRST! Film Critic. For more reviews by youth, visit kidsfirst dot org

The only other review here as I write this wrote a good review. However, they reviewed this as a fictional movie. This is based on a true story and real life often does not have the makings of a well-written fiction. Normally I do not enjoy anything about sports if it is not local sports and does not involve someone I know, especially family members. If I wanted to watch sports I would turn on the news since that is over half of what the news material includes. I am not Mike Heck who thinks the answer to everything is "SPORTS". The coach reminds me of my boot camp T.I., tough as nails, hard on the troops, but in her heart very caring. Other than Helen Hunt, the outstanding actor in this film was Erin Moriarty. I researched her when I got home and it seems prior to this she has not done much work of significance. Too bad. I think with good material like this she could do well and go far. I was surprised to see Tiera Skovbye listed in the cast. I don't even remember seeing her in the movie. IE. she did not make much of an impression.

"The Miracle Season" is a wonderful, loving, perfect film. I went to see it on a whim and I am SO glad that I did.

It is the most touching film I have ever seen. Go see it, you will fall in love with all of the people in this movie, I promise.

Be sure to stay for the credits, you will see the real family and learn more about their story.

Amazing story, amazing film.

"The Miracle Season" (PG, 1:41) is a drama directed by Sean McNamara (who directed the 2015 true-story high school drama "Spare Parts") and written by David Aaron Cohen (2004's "Friday Night Lights" film) and Elissa Matsueda ("Spare Parts"). This movie is based on the true story of the tragic death of a high school volleyball team captain in Iowa in 2011 and the season in which the team struggled to overcome their grief, push forward without their best player and try to repeat as state champions.

Caroline "Line" Found (Danika Yarosh) is the effervescent captain of the West High School girls volleyball team and life-long best friend of Kelley Fliehler (Erin Moriarty, looking like a slightly younger Kate Mara). Caroline encourages Kelley when she doubts her volleyball skills and even manages to stay positive and try to boost the spirits of her mother (Jillian Fargey) who is dying of cancer. Caroline's father, Dr. Ernie Found (Oscar winner William Hurt), also seems to draw strength from his daughter as he deals with his wife's condition. All this makes for an especially devastating tragedy when "Line" dies so unexpectedly.

Caroline's teammates have a hard enough time dealing with losing such an important person in their young lives, let alone getting back on the volleyball court. The team's coach, Kathy Bresnahan (Oscar winner Helen Hunt) encourages Kelley to step up, become a team leader, and get her teammates back to practice. The coach feels that returning to the game they all love will help the girls heal and be the best way to honor Caroline's memory. The players slowly come to agree, but still find it very painful to play volleyball without Caroline - and just as difficult to win without her - but they keep on trying.

"The Miracle Season" is a touching and inspiring story. It may be predictable and have an "After School Special" vibe to it, but the excellent cast and strong performances raise this film to another level. It would've done better to wallow in its sad backstory a little less and feature the game of volleyball a little more, but the movie is still entertaining. It also serves up some valuable lessons, not just about overcoming adversity and never giving up (as important as all that is), but it also shows teenagers how fragile life can be and reminds us all to live every day to the fullest. "B"

I hadn't been so touched and overwhelmed by a movie since My Sisters Keeper; it's inspirational, empowering and based on true events. It's a must watch.