Big Miracle (2011)

This story takes place in 1988. Adam Carlson (John Krasinski) is a struggling TV news reporter from a small town in Alaska, and he’s looking for a big story to jump start his career. Adam reluctantly agrees to help a young friend one day, and he accidentally finds the big story he’s been looking for. Three California grey whales are trapped underneath the ice of the Arctic Circle. Adam’s big break quickly gains international attention, and dozens of news stations flock to the small town to cover the story. Rachel Kramer (Drew Barrymore) is a fearless and passionate environmental activist, who helps lead the rescue mission for the whales. She’s also Adam’s ex-girlfriend, and there’s still some bad blood between these two. Adam‘s news career slowly starts to take off, and he quickly joins forces with a more successful news reporter. Jill Jerard (Kristen Bell) does have a nice amount of popularity, Adam has a huge crush on her, so he’s more than willing to form a team with Jerard.

Rescuing the whales should be the main priority, but Rachel is the only one, who remains focused and determined, and she will do anything for the safety of the whales. But the massive amount of publicity brings a lot of unwanted attention from politicians, who have their own personal agendas, a shady oil executive, and Jill will stop at nothing to further her own career. Everyone wants to capitalize off of the whales, but time is running it out, as the ice continues to harden and freeze over, and the massive thick wall of ice, that blocks their path to freedom must be cleared. The rescue efforts from the US National Guard fail, but will the US accept some last minute help from Russia?

Big Miracle is very predictable, and this film just goes through the motions the entire time, but still, I enjoyed this one. Big Miracle does feature some genuine heartwarming moments, and the entire cast did provide some very believable performances. Also, Big Miracle didn’t go too over the top with the sappy stuff, and I really did enjoy this approach. They didn’t try to force the drama in this film, and I never got the “This is just wayyyy too cheesy” feeling.

Big Miracle might have a strong simplistic feel to it, but this can still be a very satisfying, feel-good family friendly film. The acting is solid, Big Miracle features some very likeable characters, who you can root for, and Drew Barrymore did deliver a dedicated performance. She did put a good amount effort into her character, you can really see it, and she was very convincing here. Also, this film does feature some good humor. Rob Riggle and Michael Gaston were hilarious, and Big Miracle did provide plenty of laughs for me. Big Miracle doesn’t set the bar for family friendly dramas, but this wasn’t a bad film at all, and I really enjoyed this one.

Final Rating: 6/10