I’m very nostalgic. I’m one of those people who watches a movie like 17 Again, and thinks that I’d love that opportunity. Even more, I’d love to have the knowledge i know now, and repeat my childhood. We had Saturday Morning Cartoons, afternoon cartoons when we got out of school, a block on Saturday night, kids played with physical toys… outside, and I mostly watched films aimed at kids. My parents took me to the theatres to see Batman in its original theatrical release, and I fell asleep. So, the beginning of my film journey is dominated by films aimed at the age I was. One of those gems was Iron Will.
Released in 1994, and celebrating its 30th Anniversary, Iron Will follows the story of a young man (Mackenzie Aston) who has to win a sled dog race during the depression to save his family home after his father dies in a tragic accident. He battles the elements, other riders, rich benefactors, and a lead sled dog who was fiercely loyal to his father, all to get that inspirational ending.
And yes, I’m sorry, Kevin Spacey is in this film. Interestingly, this might have been the first time I saw Brian Cox, an actor I would come to adore, on a professional and person level. I’m fairly certain when I was in middle school when this was released, I hadn’t started thinking about anything in that direction, as I was still the kid who played with action figures and watched Disney movies, but later I would. I’ve seen Iron Will countless times, but never with audio description. I’m very grateful that this has audio description, because this film is just one of those comfort films for me, and likely even more so as I later realized Brian Cox has a substantial role. He’s playing a bad guy, but so is Logan Roy. Don’t knock the man for knowing his type.
But, this was also around the time I did start to watch more and more adult fare. it was when I started watching the Oscars, and paying more attention. I had already seen Jurassic Park the previous year, and my friend made sure I saw Terminator 2 (which I was not ready for), so I was starting to watch more challenging films gradually. i lived in this weird place where I remember wondering why iron Will wasn’t nominated for an Oscar. I didn’t understand the mechanics of the business at the time, but I was starting to, as this was around the same time I got subscriptions to Entertainment weekly and Premiere. I knew I wanted film to be in my life, but I didn’t know if it meant me starring in films, writing films, or film criticism. It wasn’t until a year later when i would start writing movie reviews for a local paper that I really let this whole thing take hold.
I love this movie. It’s cheesy. it’s hopelessly uplifting. It is very predictable. But, there’s a heart here, something within the heart of Will that is recognized as he inspires all within the confines of the film that resonates to the audience. It is the determination to fight for everything you have, and everything you know, even when the world is telling you that you can’t, and you aren’t good enough. Will is told he’s too young, too naive, too inexperienced to be running the race, but while others seek the glory of simply winning the race, the stakes for Will are higher. Will isn’t just racing for the glory, he’s racing for his home.
If you’ve never seen Iron Will, or you have kids and they’ve never seen it, I really recommend this. This film, to me, is so deep down the nostalgia well that I can’t separate how it makes me feel every time to try and figure out what a grade would be by today’s standards. And with comfort movies, really we shouldn’t have to, as long as we’re honest about why we’re giving it the grade it is getting.
Iron Will is a part of me. Now you know.
Final Grade: A+
