Product Description

With Russell Crowe (THE INSIDER, A BEAUTIFUL MIND), Hank Azaria (GODZILLA, THE BIRD CAGE), and Burt Reynolds leading an incredible all-star cast, here's a fun, uplifting, action-packed story that everyone will love! A remote hockey-obsessed town populated by 633 of the most eccentric characters you'd ever want to meet, Mystery is the kind of place where nothing ever changes. But then life as they know it gets turned completely upside down! When a publicity stunt brings the world-famous New York Rangers -- and the national spotlight -- to Mystery for a game with the local team of weekend warriors, the whole town rises to meet the challenge of a lifetime! Also starring Mary McCormack (TRUE CRIME, DEEP IMPACT) and Lolita Davidovich (PLAY IT TO THE BONE, JUNGLE 2 JUNGLE) in another critical favorite from the hit-making director of AUSTIN POWERS 1&2 -- you'll stand and cheer as this ragtag bunch shows that nothing can melt their dreams of a miracle on ice!

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #11052 in DVD
• Brand: Team Marketing
• Released on: 2000-05-09
• Rating: R (Restricted)
• Aspect ratio: 2.35:1
• Formats: Closed-captioned, Color, DVD, NTSC
• Original language: English, French
• Number of discs: 1
• Dimensions: .0" h x .0" w x .0" l, 1.00 pounds
• Running time: 119 minutes

Features

• Officially Licensed
• Highest Quality Recording

Amazon.com
When it comes to the subject of community, David E. Kelley--the prolific writer-producer behind television's The Practice and Ally McBeal--falls somewhere on a continuum between directors Howard Hawks and Robert Benton. While Hawks's professional characters are bound by a knowledge of how to do what they do even if they don't know why, Benton's people, professional or not, have long ago substituted their own eccentric reasons for that elusive why. Thus we get the kind of in-house, oddball rituals sandwiched between passages of actual work on Ally, and the affectionately entangled personal and professional ties between small-town folks in Kelley's earlier TV series Picket Fences.

Kelley's script for Mystery, Alaska (co-authored by Sean O'Byrne) takes that level of eccentricity to a geographical and spiritual extreme. The film revives the hackneyed Rocky formula, setting a lopsided hockey match within a remote, self-contained hamlet where the members of a tiny population all have to wear multiple hats and still keep neighborly ties intact. The story concerns the town's chief source of identity and pride: so-called "Saturday games," in which local men divide into teams and play pond hockey for the locals. When a prodigal son (Hank Azaria) of Mystery shows up with a television network offer to bring the New York Rangers in for a televised match against the homegrown team, the town fathers agree. Coaching falls to the town sheriff, John Biebe (Russell Crowe), an admirable man and a longtime player recently bumped from the team. John, however, doesn't want the job: everyone knows the real coach in those parts is Judge Burns (Burt Reynolds), but he wants no part of it either. All of that changes after a sad tragedy forces everyone to reevaluate their positions and pull together in order to beat the Rangers.

Following the success of Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery, Jay Roach proves to be an able director of drama, swift action, and low-key, character-driven comedy not unlike that in Benton's Nobody's Fool. He has to deal with some pure corn at the end, but Roach pulls it off and guides the actors to and through far better moments. --Tom Keogh

From The New Yorker
Director Jay Roach's follow-up to his latest "Austin Powers" installment begins with a fine, and promising, purity: a skater, alone in the Alaskan wilderness (it's actually Alberta, Canada), moves powerfully along a twisting frozen river. We track him from all angles: shot from high above, followed closer from behind, seen coming at the camera in slow motion. We get closeups of fancy footwork, hear the slash of metal on ice. It's a young man training to play in the Saturday game, which is the best thing that can happen to a hockey player in the tiny town of Mystery. The early scenes succeed as a tantalizing evocation of the love of sport for sport's sake. Russell Crowe is warm and impressive as the town sheriff and team captain, and Burt Reynolds, coiffed like a silver fox, is amusing as the town judge and team coach. Unfortunately, once the plot gets rolling-the New York Rangers are coming to town for a game of pond hockey against the locals-the feel-good sports-movie clichés start clicking into place, and by the end there's no mystery at all. -Ken Marks
Copyright © 2006 The New Yorker

Customer Reviews

Mystery, Alaska is the place to be!
This charming film didn't get the positive praise it deserved. It was absolutely wonderful. The small Alaskan town of "Mystery" has a quirky "Northern Exposure" feel to it, and a wonderful ensemble cast add a lot of fun and games.

The "Saturday" hockey game leads off this fairy-tale story of David vs. Goliath, as their hometown boys go against the NHL'S New York Rangers. Former "townie" Hank Azaria starts this whole thing by writing a spotlight on the "Saturday Game" for Sports Illustrated and well.. Mystery is never the same after that. Russell Crowe turns in a great performance as "slightly older" town Sherif John Biebe, who is the heart and soul of the much younger hockey team. There are many wonderful smaller performances by faces you'll certainly know and love. It's a wonderfully sweet, charming and funny (with classic one liners from MANY of the young players) movie that only HAPPENS to be about hockey. There is so much more to it. You don't have to know a thing about hockey to appreciate this fun and lighthearted movie. It's right up there with my all-time favs. Definatley worth a look!

Genuinely fun movie
I rented this DVD having never even heard of the movie.But after having watched it, Mystery, Alaska has become one of my favorite movies. This enjoyable tale about a town full of eccentric, hockey-obsessed people, moves along at a nice, steady pace. Unlike many movies these days, Mystery, Alaska doesn't rush through important plot points. When a former neighbor returns home bringing the New York Rangers to play against Mystery's legendary hockey team, the town sheriff, recently bumped from the team for a younger player who's got "jump", agrees to coach. The members of the team are fleshed out well by an ensemble cast of virtual unknowns, with the exception of Russell Crowe. The ending is exciting, and surprisingly unpredictable. For me, the actor that stole the show was Ryan Northcott, a barely credited character, who plays the pivotal role of the high school skating whiz who takes Russell Crowe's place on the team. He has a couple of the most amusing, and embarassing, scenes in the movie, and handles them with humor and grace. Overall, Mystery, Alaska was a funny, enjoyable movie that I recommend to everyone. You don't have to be a hockey fan to love Mystery, Alaska.

Mystery Alaska
I wasn't sure if I would like this movie because I do not like Russell Crowe at all. The only reason I agreed to sit through it was that the rest of the ensemble cast was so good. I ended up enjoying this film. Who doesn't like a film where you can root for the underdog? The hockey team in Mystery, Alaska ends up playing an exhibition game against the New York Rangers. Everyone has the same question - can they compete? This is a movie that can appeal to many because while there are some very funny moments, there is also a lot of drama.