Chicago – At a time when even the Us Congress can’t work together to solve a problem, Ken Kwapis’ ham-fisted cinematic “Kumbaya” session, “Big Miracle,” feels especially cheap. It’s the latest stinker to solidify the theory that a stamp of approval from Heartland Truly Moving Pictures is the equivalent of a scarlet letter for any viewers desiring to be truly moved.
This film is as uninspired as its title suggests, but it’s also surprisingly unpleasant. When three grey whales get trapped in pack ice near Point Barrow, Alaska, a crowd of self-serving opportunists descend on the action. A vapid news anchor (Kristen Bell) views the potential tragedy as a bona fide career booster. An oil baron (Ted Danson) hopes his support will earn him the rights for off-shore drilling. A couple of dim-witted Midwestern entrepreneurs (James LeGros and Rob Riggle) attempt to garner publicity for their new de-icing machine,...
This film is as uninspired as its title suggests, but it’s also surprisingly unpleasant. When three grey whales get trapped in pack ice near Point Barrow, Alaska, a crowd of self-serving opportunists descend on the action. A vapid news anchor (Kristen Bell) views the potential tragedy as a bona fide career booster. An oil baron (Ted Danson) hopes his support will earn him the rights for off-shore drilling. A couple of dim-witted Midwestern entrepreneurs (James LeGros and Rob Riggle) attempt to garner publicity for their new de-icing machine,...
- 6/20/2012
- by adam@hollywoodchicago.com (Adam Fendelman)
- HollywoodChicago.com
Title: Big Miracle Director: Ken Kwapis Starring: Drew Barrymore, John Krasinski, Ted Danson, John Pingayak, Tim Blake Nelson, Kristen Bell, Ahmaogak Sweeney, Vinessa Shaw Well, check your heart at the door but feel free to bring in your selfish urges. Big Miracle uses the back-drop of a heartwarming true tale and blasts you with greedy human nature for the majority of the 107 minutes. And you know what, that’s a pretty admirable approach for the genre. Now eventually the warm-fuzzy stuff eventually does find its way into this adaptation of the 1988 news story that captured the world’s attention. Yet instead of going all Free Willy and/or Dolphin Tale on...
- 2/3/2012
- by joe
- ShockYa
Big Miracle
Directed by: Ken Kwapis
Cast: Drew Barrymore, John Krasinski, Ted Danson, Kristen Bell, John Pingayak
Running Time: 1 hr 47 mins
Rating: PG
Release Date: February 3, 2012
Plot: Based on a true story. In 1998, in the small town of Barrow, Alaska, a news reporter (Krasinski) does a news story on three trapped grey whales, which brings the attention of many Americans including his ex-girlfriend (Barrymore), a Greenpeace volunteer.
Who’S It For? Families. It’s plain and simple. I think it will definitely help if you recall the true story and if you are a little nostalgic for the ’80s.
Overall
There’s not a day that goes by that I don’t think of those whales. Ok, that’s not true. In fact, I probably haven’t thought about Fred, William and Bamm-Bamm (the whales’ names) since 1989. But it all came back to me. That’s the power of Big Miracle despite its flaws.
Directed by: Ken Kwapis
Cast: Drew Barrymore, John Krasinski, Ted Danson, Kristen Bell, John Pingayak
Running Time: 1 hr 47 mins
Rating: PG
Release Date: February 3, 2012
Plot: Based on a true story. In 1998, in the small town of Barrow, Alaska, a news reporter (Krasinski) does a news story on three trapped grey whales, which brings the attention of many Americans including his ex-girlfriend (Barrymore), a Greenpeace volunteer.
Who’S It For? Families. It’s plain and simple. I think it will definitely help if you recall the true story and if you are a little nostalgic for the ’80s.
Overall
There’s not a day that goes by that I don’t think of those whales. Ok, that’s not true. In fact, I probably haven’t thought about Fred, William and Bamm-Bamm (the whales’ names) since 1989. But it all came back to me. That’s the power of Big Miracle despite its flaws.
- 2/3/2012
- by Jeff Bayer
- The Scorecard Review
Big Miracle is an outstanding new family film. It’s inspired by the true story of an Alaskan shore town where three whales got stuck in a pack of ice in 1988. The story begins with Adam Carlson (John Krasinski), a reporter for an Anchorage TV station who’s spending time in Barrow, Alaska, the northernmost city in the U.S. Adam has recently broken up with his Greenpeace activist girlfriend, Rachel Kramer (Drew Barrymore), so he spends much of his time watching satellite news feeds and befriending Nathan (Ahmaogak Sweeney), a young boy from the local Inupiat tribe. While filming a story about Nathan’s ice bike, Adam discovers a family of three gray whales (given the Flinstonian monikers Wilma, Fred, and Bam-Bam) that have become trapped in a small opening in the freezing ice that is preventing them from travelling five more miles to a waterway that they need...
- 2/3/2012
- by Tom Stockman
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
Drew Barrymore is the princess of whales in Big Miracle. Here's Carley's review of a disappointing comedy drama...
It’s currently the season of the animal performer. Joey in War Horse and Uggie the dog in The Artist have shown that, sometimes, animal actors can provoke a better reaction than their human counterparts. But the old adage about never working with children or animals can often prove to be true, and sadly, this is the case with Drew Barrymore’s latest big screen outing, Big Miracle.
Based on a true story, the drama unfolds in Point Barrow, Alaska, a small town on the edge of the northernmost point of the United States. In 1988, the most unlikely of tales unfolded when a family of grey whales became trapped in pack ice. After a news story broke about the whales’ plight, as all eyes watched to see whether the little whale family...
It’s currently the season of the animal performer. Joey in War Horse and Uggie the dog in The Artist have shown that, sometimes, animal actors can provoke a better reaction than their human counterparts. But the old adage about never working with children or animals can often prove to be true, and sadly, this is the case with Drew Barrymore’s latest big screen outing, Big Miracle.
Based on a true story, the drama unfolds in Point Barrow, Alaska, a small town on the edge of the northernmost point of the United States. In 1988, the most unlikely of tales unfolded when a family of grey whales became trapped in pack ice. After a news story broke about the whales’ plight, as all eyes watched to see whether the little whale family...
- 2/3/2012
- Den of Geek
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