Russell Crowe Movie:

				Salesrank: 128480
		Our Price: $43.13
		Used Price: $5.20
		MPAA Rating: R (Restricted) Media: DVD

Editorial Review:
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

Mystery, Alaska [Region 2] Reviews:
Hockey lovers everywhere!!
2009-09-24 - This is just a darn good movie. For anyone who loves good old-time hockey with lovely Russell Crowe and no bad language, drugs or sexually explicit scenes - this should be YOUR movie!!

Mystery Alaska
2009-08-24 - Mystery Alaska
Cookie cutter sports drama leading up to the big win. Excellent performances from Russell Crowe and Burt Reynolds. I like the way the movie brought the audience into the world of small town Alaska hockey.Worth watching, but I wouldn't watch it twice.

I recommend my novel Devil's Verse.

Devil's Verse: Natasha Azshatan Unlocks Ancient Mysteries, Reveals Secrets, And Wrestles With Demons As She Fights To Stay Alive



For hockey fans only
2009-06-25 - The folks who live in tiny Mystery, Alaska love their Saturday hockey games. Playing on the team is a big deal to most men, and when Sheriff John Biebe (Russell Crowe) gets cut because he's too old and too slow, he feels awful. It's even worse when a former Mysterian returns from the big city with news that the New York Rangers are coming to play the locals on national TV.

The subtitle for this movie could well be "Northern Exposure on Ice" or even "Rocky in Skates." It's the tale of quirky small towners with all their domestic ups and downs who naturally pull together for the Big Game against the city slickers. In other words, it's pretty corny and predictable unless you're a hockey fan, in which case you'll probably love this movie. An ensemble piece, we don't see a whole lot of Russell Crowe; it's just as well because he seems woefully out of place. Yes, he can skate, but he's just too intense and intimidating for this lighthearted comedy. Sharing the screen with the likes of Burt Reynolds, Mike Meyers, and Little Richard doesn't help, either.

Fun Flick
2009-02-27 - I give this five stars not because it's a cinematic masterpiece, but because it's fun and very re watchable. All the pieces fit. You won't laugh hard the whole time, but there are moments and I always enjoy this movie.

you want family fun, look elsewhere, but for a 2 hour ride, it's alright
2008-11-29 - Mystery Alaska is a bit of a strange movie. Even though it's about a small hockey team in a small fictional town of Alaska (called Mystery) that badly wants the opportunity to play the New York Rangers, for some reason, there's lots of comedy bits that involve punching people in the face, and sexual themes with SEVERE cuss words that make the movie entirely inappropriate for children. So this is NOT recommended for fans of the Mighty Ducks.

You also have a chilly Little Richard making an appearance, an old woman who complains a lot, cheating housewives, Russell Crowe playing with his hair (what a weird guy) and then serious stuff like the hockey team training on the ice and facing the Rangers. The movie wants you to get into the small town and absorb the feel of the people and the way they go about their lives, but it never really works because the story is supposed to be about ice hockey. So all that stuff about "who's sleeping with who" misses the mark. A decent movie, but nothing incredibly interesting.