Big Miracle (2012)

Directed by: Ken Kwapis | 107 minutes | drama, romance | Actors: Drew Barrymore, John Krasinski, Kristen Bell, Ted Danson, Dermot Mulroney, Tim Blake Nelson, Stephen Root, Vinessa Shaw, Michael Gaston, James LeGros, Rob Riggle, Andrew Daly, Mark Ivanir, Bruce Altman, Jonathan Slavin

‘Everyone loves whales’ – this is said a lot while watching the movie ‘Big Miracle’. And people have indeed been fascinated by these giant mammals for centuries. If something happens to these beasts, conservation organizations and governments are regularly willing to do anything to save them, including in 1988. Based on the true story of a trio of whales that became trapped in the ice of Alaska in the late 1980s After the book of the same name by reporter Tom Rose, ‘Big Miracle’ is also the film version of this special history.

The protagonist in ‘Big Miracle’ is reporter Adam Carlson (John Krasinski), who is in Alaska for a documentary about the locals. By chance, he discovers a group of whales trapped under the thick ice. Soon the whales become world news. To save the whales from certain death, a path through the ice of about five miles must be created so that the animals can return to the ocean. An almost impossible task, for which everyone’s help is needed, from the local population to the President of the United States, Ronald Reagan. ‘Big Miracle’ itself focuses in particular on the aforementioned Adam Carlson and Greenpeace activist Rachel Kramer (Drew Barrymore). There are also major supporting roles for LA Times reporter Jill (Kristen Bell) and JW McGraw (Ted Danson), who, as governor and oil tycoon, has his own interest in saving the whales.

As moving as this event has been in real life, ‘Big Miracle’ does not succeed in turning this scenario into a truly compelling film. The whole is certainly not bad and the events are fairly realistic. The protagonists are partly based on people who were involved in real life. For example, the character of Greenpeace activist Rachel is based on that of activist Cindy Lowry, who was on the scene for Greenpeace at the time. The romance between American General Scott Boyer, who falls in love with Kelly Meyers, a representative of the president, has also actually taken place. Adam Carlson’s character, on the other hand, is fictional and he actually represents the countless journalists who were present in Alaska at the time. Jill and JW McGraw are also fictional characters and purely made up to add some extra storylines. The basis of ‘Big Miracle’ is historically correct, but it remains a feature film.

Perhaps it would have been better if the film had been a little less feature film. There are a lot of stories being told right now. For example, an old romance between Adam Carlson and Rachel is rekindled, but at the same time Adam also has a crush on the handsome Jill of the LA Times. Take JW McGraw’s PR campaign, the interests of the Eskimos, not to mention the two inventors from Minnesota who designed a special ‘ice cream yolk’. Then there are actually too many storylines mixed together. This would almost make you forget what the focus of the whole movie is and that is really the liberation of the three whales. In that regard, the film falters a bit.

Nevertheless, ‘Big Miracle’ certainly has enough to offer to keep the attention of both young and old, compare it with, for example, ‘Free Willy’ (1993). You will certainly have to laugh every now and then, for example when President Reagan affectionately calls his Russian rival Gorbachev ‘Gorby’ during a telephone conversation. The end result is just a bit too erratic to be really good, the makers should have focused a little more on the whales themselves. After all, ‘everyone loves whales.’