Big Miracle

(PG) Universal DVD/BD

Like the recent Dolphin Tale, this is a marine family drama based loosely on a true story.

This time it is the book Freeing the Whales by Thomas Rose, which is in turn based on a news event that gripped the US in 1988.

Alaskan field reporter Adam Carlson (John Krasinski) gets big time exposure when he breaks a story about three whales trapped off the coast of Barrow, Alaska.

When the story is picked up by a nightly newscast, people around the world are caught up in the plight of the family of grey whales caught beneath the ice, but no-one more so than Adam’s Greenpeace activist ex-girlfriend Rachel (Drew Barrymore).

As Adam continues reporting on the whales, Rachel gets to work helping them and enlisting the help of others. Meanwhile, reporters and camera people from all over arrive in the little town of Barrow to cover the events.

As people from all walks of life and with different agendas converge on the icy tundra of Alaska, the whales take centre stage and win hearts all over the world. Even the Americans and Soviets agree to work together for the sake of a whale family fighting for life.

Big Miracle is an inspiring tale about all kinds of people coming together to accomplish something great. It’s solid, if sentimental, family entertainment that warms the heart.

Adrian Drayton