USA/FILM LOCATIONS: NEW FILM 'MYSTERY ALASKA' TELLS OF A REMOTE TOWN OF UNDERDOGS OBESSED WITH ICE HOCKEY

Record ID: 388600

  • Title: USA/FILM LOCATIONS: NEW FILM 'MYSTERY ALASKA' TELLS OF A REMOTE TOWN OF UNDERDOGS OBESSED WITH ICE HOCKEY
  • Date: 19th September 1999
  • Summary: LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, (SEPTEMBER 19, 1999) (RTN - ACCESS ALL) SOUNDBITE (English) RUSSELL CROWE SAYING "It may appear on one level to be a generic sports film, and in a generic sort of sports film at some point in time the individual team that, you know, you don't expect to do so well does better than you expected. You know. And that is one element of this movie. But on the other hand this film's, the intensity of the game is fueled by the information you have (about) the relationships and the people in the town. And as I said before, the town itself is a character." SOUNDBITE (English) HANK AZARIA SAYING "The threat of physical violence in hockey is definitely a part of this story. And and the fact that these guys can only do it in the middle of nowhere, on a glacier somewhere. I mean you can't play baseball there. I think that's really important. It's not accessible to people. These people are isolated and have nothing else to do, but this. So I think that's intrinsic to the story." SOUNDBITE (English) RUSSELL CROWE SAYING "This is much more than a hockey film. It is a hockey film, but it's also a relationship film, it's film about a small town affected by outside forces. I actually see it as, in American cinema-speak, much more of a woman's film than a sportsfan's film." SOUNDBITE (English) MARY MCCORMACK DESCRIBING HER CHARACTER'S HUSBAND, PLAYED BY RUSSELL CROWE, BY SAYING "Well, he's the town sheriff and is being cut from the one thing that sort of fills his life other than work and family, this hockey passion. And I'm his wife and we have three little boys. He's going through sort of a mid-life crisis or who knows what some sort of crisis in self-esteem. And so am I. I have this ex-boyfriend who comes back to town and sort of has everything that I don't. In terms of... he's the other choice. Had I made the other choice, that would have been my life. When you're faced with seeing what you could have had it's tempting. I thought that was fun to play. I had a great, I had a delicious part I thought."
  • Embargoed: 4th October 1999 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, UNITED STATES AND VARIOUS FILM LOCATIONS
  • Country: USA
  • Reuters ID: LVAE86LJCBFGZ9YL9UY6OE0IMT4B
  • Story Text: Mining a highly proven Hollywood genre, "Mystery, Alaska" tells the tale of a remote town of underdogs, obsessed with the sport of ice hockey, thrust into an unlikely face-off with the New York Rangers.
    Sheriff John Biebe (Russell Crowe) has a happy home with his wife Donna (Mary McCormack) and two little boys.It's up to Mayor Scotty Pitcher (Colm Meaney) to tell 34-year-old John what everyone in town knows -- that as captain of the local hockey club who has played a record 13 years in the traditional "Saturday Game," John has to step aside for new up-and-comer.A cover story in a national sports magazine by ex-Mystery resident Charlie Danner (Hank Azaria) about hockey's grassroots, focusing on the town and its team, excites the locals and leads to an unexpected turn: stuck-up Charlie arrives to announce that his story has spurred the National Hockey League to schedule a midseason exhibition game with the local team.
    As the idea of the game ignites, the town's elder statesman and hockey coach, Judge Walter Burns, played by Burt Reynolds, is the one voice of reason.Speaking out at various town venues, Burns urges the citizens to consider the costs of losing.Despite his cautions, the town is swept away by the excitement and electricity of the challenge.Burns must decide whether to keep his distance or join the town's madness as coach of the Mystery team.
    As Judge Burns struggles with his concerns for the town, and whether to participate in the big game, the town goes full-steam ahead preparing for the upcoming event.Field lights, advertising billboards and bleachers sprout up around a huge, new outdoor rink.Reporters, satellite hook ups and microwave antennas transform the once quiet town into a chaotic circus.
    While fever over the sport sustains the film's energy, Crowe believes people will be attracted by more than the action on ice."It is a hockey film, but it's also a relationship film, it's film about a small town affected by outside forces," said Crowe, an Australian by birth who had never skated before accepting his role in the film Ironically, the film was shot far from Alaska in Canomore, in the Canadian province of Alberta.Nestled in the Rocky Mountains, the film's scout found the site of an open, strip coal mine, land that had been formed over the past 10 years to form a pristine meadow.The quarry had filled with water to form a lake surrounded on all sides by rugged, snow covered peaks.It was here where 53 buildings were constructed, creating the mythical town of Mystery, Alaska.
    "It's not accessible to people.These people are isolated and have nothing else to do, but this.So I think that's intrinsic to the story," said the film's co-star, Hank Azaria.
    "Mystery, Alaska" was directed by Jay Roach, who also helmed both Austin Powers films.Producer and writer was David E.Kelley, the creative force behind such television productions as Ally McBeal," "The Practice," "Chicago Hope,"
    and Picket Fences.
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