Poster property of Anonymous Content, Working Title Films and Universal Pictures.
This edition of Jacob Reviews focuses on the historical drama Big Miracle, based on the 1989 Tom Rose book, Freeing the Whales, which focuses on 1988’s Operation Breakthrough, an international exertion to save three California gray whales, which were trapped in Alaskan ice.
Despite its two-hour and three-minute time length, this film is an incredible good-feel film that will make audiences laugh, cry and even cheer. One of the best reasons worth watching this movie is its’ acting ensemble. Each one of these actors made sure their characters made their mark onto the film from John Krasinki’s News broadcaster Adam Carlson to Ted Danson’s oil tycoon J.W. McGraw. However, there were some standouts included Drew Barrymore as Greenpeace activist Rachel Kramer and Kristen Bell as the ambitious and career-driven reporter Jill Jerard.
Another successful part of this film was John Bailey’s cinematography. His camerawork could have been a disaster especially dealing with several underwater scenes involving the whales and Rachel Kramer’s visit down to the ocean was a complete success and was able to use creativity throughout this film.
The last positive impact of the film involved the historic footage of the incident and the newscasts that covered that story. This author applauds Big Miracle’s filmmakers for their usage of archived newscasts from all three broadcast networks because it allows this film to be considered a historical drama.
Unfortunately, the only knock against this film besides its’ length is that there was no chemistry between John Krasinki and Drew Barrymore, who were suppose to be the main love story in the film. It was difficult to find that spark in their eyes when they were in scenes together.
Final Thoughts and Grade: While the romance between Kransinki and Barrymore’s characters did not convince moviegoers, the rest of the film including the cinematography, acting and usage of archived footage from Operation Breakthrough helped the film guide its’ course from start to finish. B
