Review of Mystery, Alaska

Mystery, a small town in Alaska has an obsession, and that is hockey. An ESPN article boasted of Mystery's pond hockey team having equivalent skill set, specifically skating and shooting, as an NHL team. This leads to the New York Rangers scheduling an exhibition match. The eccentric locals including the sheriff, a grocer, a teacher, high school senior, and others play the game not for fame or money but for love. It's the town's legacy and pride. The film shows the struggles of setting the game up and the conflicts during the game. This theme goes back to biblical times. Can David beat Goliath? This plot seems familiar to other hockey movies like Mighty Ducks (Avnet & Herek, 1992) and Miracle (Ciardi, Gray & O'Connor, 2004); where the underdog overcomes great challenges and succeeds. Underdog or overdog, who will you root for? Who wins this match? You will have to watch. John Biebe (Russell Crowe), the sheriff is the soul of the team but has lost a step or two and struggles with being replaced by a younger skater, Stevie Weeks (Ryan Northcott). Stevie is still in high school but has amazing speed on the ice. Connor Banks (Michael Buie), a grocer is the best shot on the team; he struggles with pending legal case and might miss the game. Will the judge and jury put Connor in jail for shooting an outsider? This could affect the game undoubtedly. Matt "Skank" Marden (Ron Eldard) is the town ladies man and teaches at the school. Skank's motto is "I play hockey and I fornicate, 'cause those are the two most fun things to do in cold weather," this has gotten him into to trouble. He has an affair with the mayor's wife. Will the mayor take Skank off the team? Nighttime in Mystery, it is dark and the sound of a helicopter is heard. The New York Rangers arrive in what can be portrayed as a presidential entrance. When the helicopter gets closer, it is bright and fills the frame. The whole town is outside cheering, clapping and waving; they are excited on the arrival of the professional team. Red carpet is rolled out for the players. The camera is set at an angle around ground level and only shows their feet, legs and backs as they make their way up the carpet. As the players walk by the town folk, they tower over them. Mystery's largest player, "Tree" Lane (Kevin Durand) has to look up at the players; this emphasizes the team as Goliath. As the Rangers skate onto the ice for the exhibition game, all the fans in the stand have newspapers and seem uninterested in them. It's an outdoor game set on a huge sheet of ice larger than Olympic rinks and the temperature is ten below which will most likely affect the NHL team. Little Richard take extra long singing both national anthem, United States and Canada. The camera pans across the Rangers players and shows them uncomfortable in the cold. Can this slow down the professional team? Period two puck drops. Ranger's center wins the puck and knocks Banks to the ice. The camera angles switch from different to show the frantic shots on Mystery's goalie. The fast switching angles demonstrates the quick pace of hockey and the chaos on the ice. Finally, the Mystery players calm down after the goalie gloves a shot and a good pass provides a break out for Stevie who gets behind their defense. The game becomes one on one just for a moment. Banks shoots and scores. The scenes are close so you feel like you are on the ice with both teams. The only other score in this period was with a Ranger player in the penalty box creating a five on four. Several passes around the offensive zone and Biebe gets the puck to Banks who scores again. Goliath takes over the second period scoring five unanswered goals. Changing camera positions rapidly shows the fast pace on the ice, brining you into the game. Can David come back in the third? During the third period, Mystery goalie stands on his head to block a Rangers shot. This great defensive play spurs a couple goals by the underdogs. Camera angles are still tight keeping you close to the action. With the camera just above the ice directly behind Wasson's stick we see Marden sliding into a ninety mile an hour slap shot in groin. Now only down by one goal with forty-three seconds left; can the underdogs tie the score? The final shot of the game flies off the stick of Banks, now in slow motion and zooming close onto the puck as it flies through the air. You will have to watch the movie to find out if the underdog can overcome.