Plenty to Like, Plenty to Dislike

Overrated and overhyped

The acting in this movie is really good.

Actress is magnificent and exudes a hypnotic screen presence in this affecting drama.

If You want an entertaining movie give this a try. One of the better hockey flicks out there...

Mystery, Alaska (1999): Dir: Jay Roach / Cast: Russell Crowe, Burt Reynolds, Colm Meaney, Hank Azaria, Mary McCormack: Yet another sports film about the succeeding smaller factor. Russell Crowe plays a Sheriff who also plays ice hockey but he never goals. Burt Reynolds plays a judge who is disappointed with his son's choices. Colm Meaney plays the Mayor whose wife is having an affair. Finally there is Hank Azaria who returns to town. Crowe dislike him because he dated his wife in high school. Directed by Jay Roach but still a recycled and predictable plot. This is a switch in gears for the director who previously gave us Austin Powers. Russell Crowe is inspiring casting as someone whose love for hockey never deteriorated despite never having the talent to pull it off professionally. Now he feels his marriage threatened with the return of an ex. Hank Azaria succeeds as someone whose presence is not welcome until he comes to full revelation as to what is important. Burt Reynolds and Colm Meaney play characters with the background but not the payoff so they merely become props to formula storytelling. Mary McCormack plays the romantic interest caught between Crowe and Azaria. Despite the hockey action the production features little innovation and can pass only on its small town atmosphere. Advertised as a comedy but plays as an ensemble dramatic Mighty Ducks. Score: 6 / 10

I am NOT a sports fan.I saw this film in the theater.Saw it for Russell of course.LOVE THIS HAIR CUT IN THIS. A BIG SMILE HERE :) A good film.Cast pretty good. Too much on side stories on minor characters. Stevie & the girl. Who cares? Mayors wife following around. Yeah, and?Mike Myers cameo character had the best line in the film, I just love it."They're done like dinner." I always laugh at that one."The Partirdge Family" get mentioned. Good.Liked the Sarah character hitting the cheating guy in the head with the shovel. He deserved it!! Not the best film ever made, but enjoyable.Russell, as always, did a great job.

It is weird to think that Russell Crowe was part of this rather low key sports drama since most of his films have been of a higher order. I almost forgot that before he made L.A. Confidential he was relatively unknown in the U.S. and it was only when he was nominated for an Oscar for "The Insider" that his movies became big events.That aside, this is an immensely entertaining little movie and Crowe has a very sympathetic character here. His character has many things in common with characters in other sports movies like Walter Matthau in "Bad News Bears" and most of these movies have a strict formula. They usually revolve around underdogs and here we get a local hockey team who gets a chance to play against a NHL team, the New York Rangers. There are not many ways to tamper with this formula and indeed "Mystery, Alaska" does not stray from it. Instead we get very enjoyable hockey action and the usual rivalry between the better hockey player and the one who thinks he should be the star. In this case the part is filled out nicely by Ron Eldard, who is not a household name, at least not here in Denmark, but he has made a few films that stuck with me, one of them being the revenge drama "Sleepers". Here he has a much larger part and he does well as the arrogant rival to Crowe.The other supporting actors like Burt Reynolds and Hank Azaria are mostly decorative but there is no one who can play smarmy better than Azaria and Reynolds does well as a more dignified character than he has ever played before (check out his senator in "Striptease" to compare). The sole female, Lolita Davidovich, is terribly underwritten but that is typical of this kind of movie.Last there is a cameo by Mike Myers who of course struck gold with the director of this film and this is as it should be. So many directors do the same so why not here. The actual big game is not that extraordinary but there are enough good moments to make this a pleasant viewing experience.