I had an interesting reaction to “Miracle.” It may be critical heresy to say this, but knowing the ending was a pleasure. It’s the principle Shakespearean tragedy inverted: instead of watching characters march to their doom, we watch them march toward victory in a seemingly unstoppable way. Like the Olympic gods, we have the divine pleasure of knowing the characters’ fate as they make their moves on the chessboard.

Herein lies the attraction of “Miracle,” the story of the come-from-behind U.S. hockey victory in the 1980 Winter Olympics. Director Gavin O’Conner shuns the kind of artificial drama endemic to the genre and lets the tension build naturally, as it did in 1980 in an atmosphere of low expectations and a national mood depressed by Watergate, Vietnam, Soviet aggression in Afghanistan, and economic recession.

The storyline is simple enough, even mundane. In his interview for the position of U.S. men’s hockey coach, Herb Brooks (played by Kurt Russell) methodically lays out his plan for defeating the seemingly invincible Soviet team. Brooks thinks he can demystify the Russians and beat them at their own game. The hiring committee reacts with understandable skepticism, but they give him the job, perhaps because they feel there is nothing to lose.

The rest of the movie chronicles the implementation of Brooks’ plan, which he pursues with an obsessive focus. On the official movie web site, Russell himself notes that the movie is as much about “the value of hard work” as it is about a “miracle”. What makes Brooks’ humdrum labors relevant is the national malaise of late 1970s. Indeed, I have never seen more historically-minded opening credits. We get an overview of the decade before the movie even begins, ending with somber footage of the 1979 Iran hostage crisis. This recurs throughout the movie, as training scenes are interrupted by hostage crisis newscasts, headlines of the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, long lines at the gas pump, and speeches by President Carter.

The movie works because of its nostalgic value, both for those who can remember where they were at the time and for those whose collective memory is dominated by 9-11 and its aftermath. Without the Cold War backdrop, the U.S. Olympic hockey triumph at Lake Placid would have been merely an interesting sports story. In the light of the Cold War, it became the lens through which America viewed itself. America’s self-understanding as a “city on a hill” was faltering. Maybe we weren’t destined to lead the world. Maybe the Soviet alternative of dictatorship and collective misery was the future and the American way of life was destined to become the historical asterisk.

As we watch American troops bog down in Iraq and grapple with the real threats and uncertainties of terrorism, it’s nice to be bucked up a little. By focusing on a great moment of national vindication, and doing so without a lot of hype, “Miracle” indulges us with a large helping of nostalgia that, frankly, tastes pretty good.