In theaters

MIRACLE, Directed by Gavin O’Connor, written by Eric Guggenheim, 135 minutes, rated PG.

“Miracle” is based on the U.S. Olympic hockey team’s spectacular 4-3 win over the Soviet Union at the 1980 Winter Games in Lake Placid, N.Y. If you happened to see the game, then you probably haven’t forgotten it.

Indeed, if ever there was a historic sporting event suited for the big screen, this is it. It featured the United States as the underdogs, the Russians as the team to beat and a fight on the ice that was charged with such passion and meaning, memories of it continue to ripple 24 years later.

A colleague of mine, Joe Carr, who for six years has called the games for the UMaine hockey team on WABI, and for eight years before that on WABI and WZON radio, considers the game to be one of the more defining moments of his life.

“To most people,” Carr says, “the gold medal performance was much more than a sports event. When Al Michaels famously asked, ‘Do you believe in miracles?’ at the end of the ABC broadcast, it was almost as if the whole country answered ‘Yes!’ with one voice. It was a tremendous thrill, and it came at a time when American society really needed that kind of a lift.”

Since the movie’s Friday release, dozens who have seen the movie have either e-mailed me their own memories of the game or have shared them in person, with each recollection confirming that sports movies, not unlike war movies, have the power to evoke memories that transcend the event itself.

Director Gavin O’Connor and his screenwriter Eric Guggenheim know this and thus they begin their movie with the reasons this particular game came to mean so much to so many: It galvanized the country during difficult times.

The movie opens with a brief montage that shows devastating images of the Vietnam War, a nation in the throes of economic uncertainty, the Watergate hearings, the fall of a president, the rise of another, the gas crisis of the late ’70s, the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan and the general emotional malaise of the country.

Cutting away from this, O’Connor focuses on the one man who would fight to overcome the odds stacked against him: Herb Brooks (Kurt Russell), the sharp, ill-tempered coach from the University of Minnesota whose job it was to take 20 young men from various backgrounds and turn them into a team that could defeat the best of the best.

How did he do it? It was no miracle. Instead, it was hard work and cunning, with Brooks studying the Soviets’ strategy, learning from it and then doggedly training his team to beat them at their own game.

Not unlike Gary Ross’ “Seabiscuit,” O’Connor’s challenge was to create a gripping movie that soared in spite of an ending that is, shall we say, rather well-known.

That he and Guggenheim succeed is the real miracle here. Better yet, unlike Ross, who tinted his movie with sentiment, O’Connor and Guggenheim mostly resist the urge to do the same. They’re not eager to give the movie over to melodrama and, as such, they respect the event and the audience’s memory of it, only plucking our heartstrings toward the end – when they’ve earned the right to do so.

Kurt Russell also goes a long way in keeping the schmaltz at bay. This is the best performance he has given in years, with Russell downplaying the machismo a lesser actor might have brought to the role while nevertheless offering just enough ego and grit to keep the movie on edge. His scenes with his tough yet supportive wife, Patty (Patricia Clarkson), are perfunctory and cliched, but they don’t lack chemistry or energy – which not only saves them but also gives them an enjoyable rhythm.

Still, the movie isn’t about them. What it’s about is Brooks interacting with his team, a group of young men from Boston and Minnesota who were put through hell by Brooks and asked to pull off the unimaginable, which they did.

Fans of UMaine’s hockey team will recognize Michael Mantenuto, who played during the 2000-2001 season and who has a major role here as Jack O’Callahan. He does a fine job of it, too, holding the screen along with his teammates, most of whom are first-time actors but all of whom are convincing. They manage to get under your skin and deliver a movie that captures the essence of the time and leaves an impression that’s far more lasting than you might expect.

Grade: B+

Christopher Smith is the Bangor Daily News film critic. His reviews appear Mondays and Fridays in Style, 5:30 p.m. Thursdays on WLBZ 2 and WCSH 6, and are archived at RottenTomatoes.com. He can be reached at BDNFilm1@aol.com.

The Video-DVD Corner

Renting a video or a DVD? NEWS film critic Christopher Smith can help. Below are his grades of recent releases in video stores. Those capped and in bold print are new to video stores this week.

American Splendor ? A-

Anything Else ? B+

Bad Boys II ? C-

Bruce Almighty ? B+

The Fighting Temptations ? C

Finding Nemo ? B+

Freaky Friday ? A-

Freddy vs. Jason ? D-

How to Deal ? C-

House of the Dead ? D

The In-Laws ? C

Intolerable Cruelty ? B-

The Italian Job ? A-

Le Divorce ? C-

Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers ? A-

Lost in Translation ? A

Man on the Train ? A-

The Matrix Reloaded ? A-

My Boss’s Daughter ? BOMB

Nowhere in Africa ? A

Once Upon a Time in Mexico ? B-

Open Range ? B+

Out of Time ? B

The Order ? D

Pirates of the Caribbean ? A-

Radio ? C

Real Women Have Curves ? A-

Santa Clause 2 ? C-

Secondhand Lions ? C+

The Secret Lives of Dentists ? B+

Swimming Pool ? B+

Sylvia ? B-

Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines ? B

Thirteen ? B+

28 Days Later ? B+

Under the Tuscan Sun ? B+

Underworld ? D

Winged Migration ? A