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Smile( Sumairu seiya no kiseki 2007)

Posted on 4:39 AM No Comments
Labels: All, Comedy, Family, J-Movie, Sport

After a career-ending injury, tap dancer Sano Shuhei (Moriyama Mirai) finds himself in snowy Hokkaido, looking to marry his girlfriend, figure skating instructor Shizuka (Kato Rosa). Unfortunately his plans are put on thaw by Shizuka’s disapproving father who has no intentions of marrying off his daughter to anyone anytime soon. Father dearest eventually agrees to let the couple tie the knot if Shuhei can coach the local junior hockey team Smilers to victory at the regional championships. Despite knowing nothing about the sport, Shuhei gamely takes on the challenge, which is more than can be said of his players. Without a smiler in the bunch, the Smilers have never even won a single match. Using atypical methods, Shuhei manages to get his scrappy team of discouraged misfits into some semblance of talent and teamwork, but will it be enough to beat the corporate-sponsored reigning champion, not to mention his stubborn father-in-law?.

Comments :
When you think of children's ice hockey movies, The Mighty Ducks franchise probably comes instantly to mind. Likewise when I first saw the trailer for this movie, I can't help but to recall the Ducks, as well as the usual formula attached to team sports movie in general, where a motivational coach takes responsibility to turn a rag-tag team around and achieve glory. From Remembering the Titans to We Are Marshalls to Gridiron Gang, you just can't put a stop to such constant cookie cutter production under different premises.

So to differentiate itself, and for my personal gauge, so long as the movie moves me at certain points despite clichés, then it works. Smiler does so on many counts, and is in fact a fine children's sports movie that is suitable for all ages, with the usual lessons to learn such as having no short cuts to success, persevering when the going gets tough, always believing in yourself and similar positive learnings to be gained from sitting through all 122 minutes of it. Like Swing Girls and Waterboys in its treatment and development of the narrative where the protagonists have to battle adversary, we follow the games of a junior high ice hockey team called Smilers, whom everyone including themselves, write their chances off even before the first puck gets hit, if at all.

It's mainly told in flashback mode, though the prologue and epilogue spoke volumes that warm the heart. In the main narrative thread there are more than 3 little subplots which involve relationships, and the main bulk of it would be that of tap-dancer Shuhei (Mirai Moriyama) and figure skating teacher Shizuka (Rosa Kato). A career ending injury brings Shuhei to Hokkaido to be with his lady love, but his wedding proposal got thwarted by her dad, who dangles the carrot that he'll only agree to giving her hand away in marriage, should he coach his school team to victory in the championships.

Armed with nothing but his child psychology background, Shuhei has an uphill task in getting his team together, a group of boys whose skills are like unpolished gems, and to motivate them using some pretty innovative conviction that they are the best out there. Co- written by director Takanori Jinnai, he gives us some likable characters to grow attached to, and while each of them might have been boxed by their individual and personal issues, I thought it more than compensated any shortcomings, as we really get to know these kids, rather than being faceless beings brought in to make up numbers....
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