Big Miracle

I found quite a bit to like about Big Miracle, and probably would have liked it more if the screenplay had been just a little bit tighter. On the plus side, the movie is surprisingly intelligent, not once talking down to the kids in the audience. It's also been well researched, featuring lots of archival news footage of the actual event that inspired the film. The movie just contains way too many characters (though they are performed by a largely top flight cast), and definitely more subplots than a film like this needs. Director Ken Kwapis (He's Just Not That Into You) was obviously trying to pad out the fairly simple story, but the movie ends up feeling a little cluttered.

The film is inspired by an event in 1988, when a family of three grey whales became trapped under the Alaskan ice while making their migration south. The first person to notice this is Adam Carlson (John Krasinski), a reporter stationed in Alaska mainly to do fluff pieces. He notices that the whales are gathered around a small circular crack in the ice, through which they occasionally pop their heads up for air. It quickly becomes clear that the whales will not survive long, unless they can somehow be led out to sea. The problem is, a massive ice barrier blocks the way out to open water. As the locals try to think of ways to guide the whales to safety, a media and environmental circus bears down on the tiny Alaskan town, which only has one hotel and (I think) two restaurants. Some of the people who get involved in the plight include an oil tycoon (Ted Danson), who sees his participation as a publicity stunt, a struggling young reporter looking for a chance to move up (Kristen Bell), and an outspoken Greenpeace spokeswoman who just happens to be Adam's ex-girlfriend (Drew Barrymore).

One aspect that I liked about the screenplay by Jack Amiel and Michael Begler is that it does not whitewash over the fact that everyone is pretty much looking out for themselves, and have their own agenda to help the whale family. There's two brothers from Minnesota who fly in with a product that helps break up ice, who want free publicity for their business. The woman from Greenpeace wants to boost her organization. Adam hopes covering this story will help net him a better news job. Everybody does ultimately ban together to complete the cause, but at least the movie doesn't make everybody out to be saints. Ultimately, the Soviet Union has to be called in, as they have a ship powerful enough to break through the ice wall. Naturally, the representatives of the U.S. government aren't crazy about this idea ("I'm not going to let those Reds come in here and save the day!"), but there's ultimately no choice, and we get a shot of an actor with his back to us, posing as Reagan, making a call to "Gorby".

Big Miracle never becomes quite as preachy or as sappy as I expected it to be walking in, but it is not helped by its overly crowded cast of characters. Sure, they're played by some talented actors (Tim Blake Nelson, Kathy Baker, and Dermot Mulroney appear in supporting roles), but the movie sometimes seems to be going in too many directions. There's a cute local kid who's friends with Adam (Ahmaogak Sweeney) who is taught by his grandfather how to respect nature. There's the complicated relationship between Adam and the Barrymore character. Bell's young reporter character has to deal with the smarmy lead anchorman on her network, who tries to steal her story once it becomes national news. A lot of these plots were thrown in by the writer, some seemingly for no reason. Why cook up a fake love story between John Krasinski and Drew Barrymore, when you have a one occurring between two supporting characters (a member of the National Guard and a White House aide) that actually happened in real life? I guess it's because they're not the main characters.

And then there is the big question I have, which is will kids like it? I'm sure they'll enjoy the whales, and like a lot of the nature photography, but the movie seems geared more toward audience members who lived through the time period where it's set. From the archival news footage of people like Tom Brokaw, Connie Chung, and Dan Rather in their primes, to the numerous references to 80s music, some kids might be bored. I know the child sitting in the row in front of me became more interested in kicking an empty box of popcorn about on the floor than the movie by about the 50 minute mark. I'm not saying kids won't get anything out of this movie, I just have a feeling that the accompanying adults will probably get more.

Still, Big Miracle is certainly well made, surprisingly avoids the traps of sentimentality, and is a lot smarter than the ad campaign would lead you to expect. It's not a total success, but I'd be lying if I didn't say it's kind of effective. It might be a hard sell for the kids, but I think the adults will be quite surprised by how smart the movie really is.

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