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Big Miracle: Save the Whales

By Tony LaScala · February 6, 2012

Big Miracle is the true story of three humpback whales trapped behind a wall of Alaskan ice five miles from the ocean at the height of the Cold War. After local reporter Adam Carlson (John Krasinski) discovers a pod of whales trapped in the ice, he gets a phone call from his impassioned ex-girlfriend; Greenpeace Activist Rachel Kramer (Drew Barrymore). Soon an international frenzy arises as local Eskimos, the U.S. government, The Soviets, and people from all walks of life with different beliefs and different agendas work together to save the stranded pod.

If you’re attending Big Miracle to be surprised, I can save you the price of admission; a big miracle occurs. But all predictability aside, what Big Miracle accomplishes quickly is a sense of imminent danger and an emotional attachment to three trapped whales. It’s the old ‘Save the Cat’ cliché executed effectively.

Maybe it’s just because I live in California, but it warmed the soul to hear the smatterings of applause with every yard the whales and rescuers fought for.  While heroic shows like Whale Wars have an “in your face” approach when calling attention to the over 1,200 whales slaughtered every year by commercial whaling and research the world over; Big Miracle puts forth a more palatable and pragmatic family-friendly mission: save three.

The film is a man versus nature premise, with the antagonist being the harsh Alaskan weather. But, within the people aiding in the rescuing of the trapped pod arise several more rivalries. The highest praise I can offer the film is its ability to create empathy and even likeability in its multi-dimensional human antagonist; Ted Danson’s J.W. McGraw.

Oil Tycoon J.W. McGraw isn’t just a mustache twisting heartless oil tycoon. He’s in need of some good publicity after getting called out for purchasing some land for drilling in Alaskan wildlife preserve. J.W.’s wife convinces him to loan his ice breaking ship to help his nemesis Rachel Kramer smash a path for the whales to the sea. In the beginning of the film J.W. loves the camera time, by the end he loves the whales. There’s even a touching moment after a particular setback in the rescue where he and Barrymore’s Kramer come to an understanding about their shared bi-partisan mission.

Not to be one-sided in their political beliefs, the filmmakers also focused on some of seeming Protagonist Rachel Kramer flaws. In the beginning of the film her viewpoints on humanity are so extreme and pessimistic that nobody will even listen to her Eco-ramblings. At the climax of the film she comes to grips with tapping into the true power of human empathy by connecting with her rivals on common ground and donations to Greenpeace increase a hundred fold.

If the film had one major flaw, it was its in-organic use of comic timing. Often there were tense moments that called for a short scene of comedy to blow off some pressure. Unfortunately, in Big Miracle a lot of these scenes were so obviously just for comic effect, that it diverted our attention from the story. If the comedy is not organic to the story, weave it in somewhere else.

At its core Big Miracle is a film about people helping each other toward a common goal. When so many family friendly films focus their stories around popcorn and video game sales, Big Miracle’s heartfelt message focuses on being a shepherd of the earth. Come Christmas time there will be no J.W. McGraw action figure or Save The Whales video games for purchase. This reviewer was filled with a sense of hope for our future being in a packed theatre with families sharing that message with their children; that in it of itself was enough of a miracle for me.