Big Miracle – a heart-warming family comedy

Light hearted comedies aimed at purely entertaining for an hour and a half seem to be Drew Barrymore’s forte as of late. Despite its source material, Big Miracle is one of them; following the true story of efforts around the world to free three gray whales that were trapped under the ice in Barrow, Alaska in 1988.

The film follows reporter Adam Carlson (played by John Krasinski), who has been placed by his television network in a sleepy Alaskan town. Whilst out trying to find a story, he discovers the trapped whales five miles from the shore and with only one ice hole to breathe from. With help from ex-girlfriend and Greenpeace activist Rachael Kramer (Drew Barrymore) – and consequently the whole world’s media and US army – an effort to free the stranded whales gets underway.

A narrative which is inspired by or based on a true story often brings in an advantage of the audience believing in the story and the characters’ emotions and wellbeing. Big Miracle succeeds spectacularly in this area. Using real news footage and a lot of stunning cinematography of the sparse Alaskan ice sheets, we find ourselves in the midst of an unusual dilemma, which is both fascinating and wholly educating for the PG crowd of cinema-goers.

Watching a cinema slowly fill with an audience that wouldn’t look out of place at a pantomime, Big Miracle attempts to tackle the important issues of climate change and animal protection, but still keeps it thoroughly entertaining for a PG certificate film by using a fluffy romantic love triangle which evolves from Carlson’s interest in a rival news reporter played by Kristen Bell.

The film is entertaining and Ken Kwapis has directed it in such a way that people who aren’t aware of the story beforehand (like me), can easily follow and feel concerned for the outcome of these whales’ lives. A perfect film for the family, Big Miracle is both educational and elicit.

Verdict: ****

Richard Taverner

Watch the trailer of Big Miracle here