The Miracle Season Parent Guide

Sean McNamara (the director of Soul Surfer ) helms yet another top-flight sports movie closely based on a true story. The Miracle Season delivers an entertaining experience to viewers of all ages, along with powerful messages of hope and determination.

Coming off their first win as state champions, the girls on the Iowa City West High School volleyball team may be excited to be back on the court, but they also know how to have fun with their sport. The primary advocate of having a ball while playing the game is team setter Caroline Found (Danika Yarosh), better known simply as “Line”. The effervescent blonde excitedly begins her senior year bouncing about the school’s campus with her best friend Kelly (Erin Moriarty), who also plays on the team.

Contrasting Line’s unabashed enthusiasm is their coach, Kathy Bresnahan (Helen Hunt). Her serious demeanor keeps the girls focused.Yet even when Line’s have-fun-first attitude gets in the way of her priorities, Bresnahan recognizes the young woman is key to keeping the team on a winning track.

Then the unthinkable happens. Riding a borrowed moped, Line leaves a gathering of friends and has an accident that takes her life. Her father, Ernie (William Hurt), a medical doctor who is intimately involved in his daughter’s love for volleyball, is devastated. Adding to his sorrow is the situation with his wife Ellyn (Jillian Fargey). Just a few months earlier, she was diagnosed with terminal pancreatic cancer. And shortly after his daughter’s death, Ellyn also passes away.

Back on the court, Coach Bresnahan isn’t sure how to bring the team back together, let alone play a new season. Yet, she feels the game may be just what her grieving students need – as hard as it may be. Using Line’s legacy for motivation, Bresnahan convinces the girls to return and practice setting up the complicated plays that have made the coach one of the best in the country.

Sports films are often criticized for presenting clichéd stories of comebacks and underdogs. And I’m certain many critics will voice similar distain for this one. However, considering how frequently the movie industry rehashes formulaic screenplays, one with as much authenticity and sincerity as The Miracle Season, deserves its moment on theater screens. The production offers solid performances, amazing volleyball scenes that must have required hours of choreography and a script that holds up to fact checking. (Yes, despite some artistic embellishment, every major moment in this movie really did occur). One of the best family films we’ve reviewed in a while, Caroline Found, her teammates, coach and parents provide inspiring role models that, thanks to this cinematic adaptation, will continue to uplift lives for years to come.

About author

Rod Gustafson

Rod Gustafson has worked in various media industries since 1977. He founded Parent Previews in 1993, and today continues to write and broadcast the reviews in newspapers, on radio and (of course) on the Internet. His efforts also include writing and researching media in all its forms and observing how it effects society and culture. He and his wife Donna have four children.