hyped garbage

A Disappointing Continuation

Unshakable, witty and deeply felt, the film will be paying emotional dividends for a long, long time.

All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

While this is a true story, it's too bad they didn't play up the angle of off-shore drilling. Instead, Ted Danson, who appeared to have the role of a ruthless drill executive, is reduced to saving three whales caught in ice.Drew Barrymore is excellent as the committed, dedicated activist. Of course, there is a love story attached here with a reporter, assigned to Alaska for 4 years. Then, comes a reporter from L.A., dedicated to moving up the ladder by strong reporting and little emotion.Naturally, politics enters the picture as it's 1988 and Dukakis and Bush are battling it out for the presidency and the story has political implications. This could have been stressed further as well.

The second grade Open Court textbook includes "The Story of the Three Whales." I thought I would show this movie as we read the story. I was dismayed to find that there were several uses of profanity in this movie, which I would rather not have when I am showing a movie to my students. Teachers should watch the movie first and decide if you want to show it.Further, there are, of course, many scenes that are not part of the story in the textbook, so you could skip over those if you decide to show it. It does carry a disclaimer about being inspired by a true story, so the movie never claims to be historically accurate.

Big Miracle looks deceiving due to its advertising. Looking like a sappy, clichéd mess of a cash in. Even at first impression, it's deceiving. Characters like the oft-seen charismatic ex-boyfriend, the spunky animal rights activist, the street-smart young kid, the pretty fish out of water journalist, the local elderly wiseman, the mean old oil tycoon turned good guy, the unlikely geniuses who provide comic relief, and even the self-absorbed douchebag news anchor had me fearing for its quality.However, something about this true story just sticks. The script is overly clichéd, but there's a surprising heart and lack of cheap corniness to it that feels more honest than its sappy sounding premise may let on. It also boasts another surprising element: actual intelligence. It may not be groundbreaking, but it's done plenty of justice by an excellent cast. Even if it's not always focused, the powerful ending is happily earned, adding up to a satisfying family drama.***1/2 / *****

I have no hesitation in giving this movie a 10 rating and if I could give it more I would.Drew Barrymore has come a very long way since her fresh faced appearance at age seven in ET and as far as I am concerned it is down to Drew herself. She has had many problems in her past and she has overcome them all for which I applaud her without hesitation.In fact the Barrymore family has had a great deal of trauma over the years but still they keep producing truly great people for the movie world.SPOILER BEGINS Big Miracle is a strange little story based on fact about three California Grey Whales who were trapped under the ice in a town called Barrow in Alaska.The Inuit Eskimos kill whales, not for fun or profit, but in order to live but this little town worked tirelessly to make sure that a small piece of ice was kept from freezing over in order for the whales to be able to come up for air.When Greenpeace discovered what was happening Rachel Kramer (Barrymore) the Greenpeace campaigner for whales in Alaska tried to get the US Government to launch a rescue to save the whales. The actual name of the campaigner is Cindy Lowry.The three whales were mother, father and son. They were named Fred, Wilma and Bam Bam in the movie but two of them were actually called Crossbeak and Bonnet.In the film sadly the baby died, which I believe actually happened.I won't tell you what happened to the two remaining whales, you will have to watch the movie.The incident showed the cooperation that can be achieved between unfriendly nations because the Russians had an icebreaker in the area and offered to break the ice in order to make a pathway for the whales to escape to open water. Eventually Reagan, the President at that time agreed.One of the most poignant things for me was when the Russian Icebreaker arrived it raised not only the Russian flag but the US flag too. This did actually happen.What is so ironic is that the Russians were one of the worst nations for whaling at that time but it was they who offered their assistance in order to free the animals they once hunted down mercilessly.SPOILER ENDS.There were several lesser know actors in the cast but each and everyone played their part superbly.Drew Barrymore (Kramer) and John Krasinski (Adam) were ideal choices for their respective roles.The writing and direction was flawless in my opinion.I don't know if this movie is going to be put up for any awards but I certainly hope so and I hope it wins at least a few.I will never understand the human race. With all the hate, greed and uncaring there is in this world the whole world was praying for the survival of these not so little creatures and the US Government spent over five million dollars in order to try to save them.There must be hope for humanity yet.