Review 193: Big Miracle

Big Miracle is your quintessential family drama, earnest, uplifting, a compelling fact based story at its core and plenty of lovely performances.

Based on the non-fiction book Freeing the Whales: How the Media Created the World's Greatest Non-Event by Tom Rose, The film covers Operation Breakthrough. In 1988, Adam Carlson (John Krasinski) is a small town news-reporter stationed in Alaska who discovers a family of gray whales trapped beneath rapidly forming ice in the arctic circle. 
With the help of Greenpeace volunteer and his ex-girlfriend Rachel Kramer (Drew Barrymore), they rally rival world superpowers to help save the whales.

The plot is a tastily told and  These three whales were indeed trapped off the coast of Barrow Alaska and their plight captured the worlds attention.

The film is very much rooted in the politics of 1988, during a time when the Cold War was raging on and Reagan didn't have the best environmental record
The Cold War is used as a very compelling backdrop in Big Miracle 

Everyone was doing their part to help these whales for their own reasons. In that one moment, all these people pulled their weight to perform one altruistic 

Director Ken Kawpis' direction is sensitive, the cinematography is beautiful and captures the beauty and exoticness of Alaska, the locations are lush and appealing, the score by Cliff Eidelman is 
the costumes are lovely 

The acting is charmingly terrific, John Krasinski and Drew Barrymore are lovely in their roles as
Adam Carlson and his ex Rachel respectively.

Because she’s a Greenpeace volunteer, Rachel has a lot of empathy for the whales 

Kristen "Veronica Mars" Bell brings her usual quirky, cooky energy to the role of Jill Gerard. 
Jill has always dreamed of being a reporter, she has unending determination and believes she should be thriving in a male dominated world.  

Ted Danson

Tim Blake Nelson

Vinessa Shaw