By Camryn Ragland ’18

“The Miracle Season” is an exciting and inspiring sports film that is very moving, but not exactly a cinematic work of art.

The movie follows Kelley Fliehler (Erin Moriarty) as she takes the role of captain for the Iowa City West High School volleyball team in attempt to defend their state title after her best friend, Caroline Found (Danika Yarosh), dies in a mo-ped accident. Found was a role model for the volleyball team and the whole town. So, when she suddenly died it took a lot of hard work and wiped tears to have another successful season.

While the storyline of the movie was absolutely inspiring, especially because it was based on a true story, there were some flaws in the creation of the film. The director, Sean McNamara, capitalized on every opportunity to flood your tear ducts. While this did leave me weeping in the theaters, I do think that McNamara should have focused on the story more than the dramatic music and long pauses.

Another flaw was that the outcome of the movie was also extremely predictable. After Found’s death, the team loses and forfeits many games in their season and are set at the impossible task of having to win their last 15 games in order to qualify for the state tournament. In true sport movie fashion, they win all of their games and end up on top of the state in order to honor Found.

However, the flaws did not outweigh the beautiful tribute to honor Found. The movie highlighted her bubbly personality and happy cheer almost to the point where she seemed too perfect to be a teenager. It showed how a community came together to support a volleyball team who against all odds, rose above the loss of their star player and won a back to back state title.

I would recommend this movie to anyone who loves inspiring sports movies, but make sure to bring a box of tissues to the theater when you go.

Rating: 7/10