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

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   September 1, 2000
Hollis Boyd (Bethesda, Maryland)
24 out of 25 found this review helpful

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.


A melting pot of love, drama, and most impotant, HOCKEY!   February 25, 2000
Squid (Kansas)
13 out of 14 found this review helpful

This film has something for everyone. This story of the Saturday Game in the small town of Mystery, AK unfolds into a wonderful story, not just of a pond-hockey team playing against the New York Rangers, but of the pride of an entire town. It is full of light hearted humor, but this movie is no joke. You become a citizen of Mystery as you not only laugh, but also cry and of course, cheer. Mystery Alaska has enough hockey to keep any sports fan entertained. The movie also has plenty of action and drama to please the crowd that asks "Wayne who?" It truely is a movie for all. If you are a hockey fan, I am here to tell you, this is the new "Slap Shot".


A Movie With a Heart As Big As All Outdoors   December 26, 2003
Duane Thomas (Tacoma, WA United States)
8 out of 9 found this review helpful

If you're interested in this movie, it's probably because it stars Russell Crowe. But if you thought that was the only reason to see this film, have I got some good news for you.

Mystery, Alaska, population 633, is a town obsessed with hockey. From the time they're children, every Mystery boy's dream is to be a member of the town's unnamed hockey team in the weekly "Saturday game." Through a sequence of events only slightly farfetched, the Mystery team is scheduled for an exhibitition game with the visiting New York Rangers, an event of only slightly less importance to this hockey-struck town than the Second Coming. One of the many great things about this movie is the town's reaction to news of the impending game. They're not awestruck by the Rangers, the visiting demi-gods; their first reaction is, "Can we win?" If Mystery plays, they intend to win. The Rangers might be big league American hockey, but Mystery has faith in its boys. It knows they're great even if the rest of the world doesn't.

The movie is about how the town and its inhabitants are affected by the upcoming game. The game itself, though perfectly realized in the film, is almost incidental. Colm Meaney (late of Star Trek: The Next Generattion and Deep Space Nine) plays the town mayor who discovers his wife (Lolita Davidovich) is sleeping with a member of the hockey team. Hank Azaria is Charles Danner, the home town boy who was never respected growing up, became a reporter out in the great big world, brings back to Mystery the NEW YORK RANGERS....and finds he's still not respected. Donna Biebe (Mary McCormack) is the girl Charles loved in high school, now married to team captain and town sheriff John Biebe (Crowe). Burt Reynolds, who still has it, and in spades, after all these years, plays town judge Walter Burns. Walter as a young man wasn't good enough for the Saturday game, a fact he's never forgotten and a source of conflict with his son, who's made the current team. But Walter was good enough for minor league hockey in the lower 48, making him the perfect choice to coach the team for and through the big game. He's the only person in town who really understands North American hockey. For his own reasons, he refuses.

Then there's Russell Crowe as John Biebe. The big game comes at the tail end of John's career. After 13 years in the Saturday game - a Mystery record - he's cut from the team just before news of the Rangers' visit hits town. And the town fathers, whose most solemn duties involve administering the hockey team, don't want him back. A man of quiet strength but not good at expressing his softer emotions, John doesn't know how to tell his wife how much he loves her when he sees Charles flirting, and her flirting back. The way he figures out finally to do that is both inventive and touching.

Though this movie "stars" Russell Crowe, it's not a star driven vehicle, it's an ensemble piece. And while Russell is wonderful as John Biebe, for my money the best performance in the film is Ron Eldard as "Skank" Marden, Mystery hockey player and dedicated fornicator. The scene where Skank appears on the mayor's doorstep one frozen night to apologize to the man he's cuckolded is, I think, the highlight of the film. It's fascinating to watch the unexpected decency, sensitivity, and dignity emerge from what til then seemed an indecent, shallow, undignified man.

The hockey game footage is convincing - thrilling, actually. Russell learned to ice skate for this role, and, with the help of some careful editing, looks pretty darn good on the ice. Numerous Rangers play themselves.

Mystery, Alaska has been called "Rocky On Ice" and that's a fair description. Yes, the film deals with a hockey game, but that's not what makes it special. This isn't a dumb, gimmicky, braindead hockey flick like The Mighty Ducks. It's a character driven, imaginative, well-acted drama....that happens to work within the framework of a story about a hockey game. By the time the Rangers arrive in Mystery you're totally on the home team's side, rooting for them because you've come to care for the Mystery boys, and respect the sacrifices they, and the town as a whole, have made for this game. Like Rocky, Mystery, Alaska shows you don't need a huge budget to make a good movie when you have a great script, solid direction, good actors, and the film possesses that quality indefinable but impossible to mistake or ignore: "heart."

So, can a team of pond hockey players from Mystery, Alaska REALLY beat the New York Rangers? Watch this movie and find out.


TEAM SPIRIT AND MORE   August 20, 2004
Michael Butts (Martinsburg, WV USA)
5 out of 5 found this review helpful

What makes MYSTERY ALASKA such a joyful movie experience is its heart, and the remarkably good cast. In the vein of such films as ROCKY, the story of the Mystery Alaska team facing the New York Rangers is merely a means to the end. What this movie is really about is pride, loyalty and the sense of courage to go against seemingly unreachable odds and come out with your pride and honor intact. This is not a "Russell Crowe" movie, although the Oscar winner is superb as John Biebe. This is a group effort and the cast has some shining moments: Ron Eldard (The Runner) plays Skank, the team's sexually active member, who is screwing the mayor's wife (Lolita Davidovich). In a memorable scene, Eldard confronts the Mayor (Colm Meany) and apologizes to him, with a sense of sincerity you hadn't seen before. One expects Meany to throw a punch or yell and scream; watch to find out how it plays out. Lolita Davidovich and Meany also have a tense but touching moment when she tells him why she slept with Eldard; Crowe and Mary McCormack as his wife share several touching scenes that show how deep a love can go; Burt Reynolds as the gruff judge/coach has a shining moment when he addresses the townspeople in a trial of a player who shot a visiting department store magnate in the foot; Maury Chaykin as Bailey Pruitt has key scenes and a very poignant one in the courtroom; Judith Ivey as Reynolds's wife has a wonderful moment when she's discussing sex with her teenage daughter (Rachel Wilson). The movie is full of nice scenes, and refreshing changes of pace thanks to the screenplay by David E. Kelley (Picket Fences). Even Hank Azaria as the homeboy producer avoids the expected cliches of his role---one can tell he really did love Beibe's wife.
A real surprise of a movie, one that should entertain and make you feel good.