Big Miracle (2012)

In small-town Alaska, a news reporter recruits his ex-girlfriend - a Greenpeace volunteer - on a campaign to save a family of gray whales trapped by rapidly forming ice in the Arctic Circle.

Director:

Ken Kwapis

Writers:

Jack Amiel (screenplay), Michael Begler (screenplay)

Stars:

Drew Barrymore, John Krasinski, John Pingayak

1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
John Pingayak	...	Malik
Ahmaogak Sweeney	...	Nathan
John Chase	...	Roy
Ishmael Angalook Hope	...	Bud
Othniel 'Anaqulutuq' Oomittuk Jr.	...	Inupiat Whaler
John Krasinski	...	Adam Carlson
Andrew Daly	...	Don Davis
Thomas R. Daly	...	Frank
Maliaq Kairaiuak	...	Dana
Jeffrey Evan	...	Arnold
Drew Barrymore	...	Rachel Kramer
Ted Danson	...	J.W. McGraw
Randy Eledge	...	Oil Man
Thom Van Dorp	...	Don Carr
Tim Blake Nelson	...	Pat Lafayette

Storyline

October, 1988. Adam Carlson, a reporter for a local Anchorage television station, is currently in Barrow doing a series of pieces on the "local cultural color" of northern Alaska. While out on the sea ice filming a less than promising piece, he spots off in the distance what ends up being three California gray whales - a mother, father and son - who are literally imprisoned by ice which has surrounded them in the earlier than usual onset of winter. They are looking worse for wear as they have been ramming the ice surface to maintain a hole in the ice to be able to breathe and thus survive. The professional and cultural assessment he receives is that the whales, in their current situation, cannot survive for more than a few days, with the ice fives miles in distance to the open ocean with a vertical ice shelf that has developed midway. Adam's piece on the whales not only gets played on his station, but is picked up by news services throughout the States, including the national ...

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Plot Keywords:

whale | alaska | save the whale | based on true story | ice | 

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Genres:

Biography | Drama | Family | Romance

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG for language

Details

Official Sites:

Official site Official site [Japan]

Country:

USA UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

3 February 2012 (USA)

Also Known As:

Everybody Loves Whales

Filming Locations:

Alaska SeaLife Center - 301 Railway Ave, Seward, Alaska, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$40,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$7,760,205, 5 February 2012, Wide Release

Gross USA:

$20,113,965, 30 March 2012

Company Credits

Production Co:

Universal Pictures,Anonymous Content,Working Title Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

107 min

Sound Mix:

SDDS Datasat Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Much of the footage for the film was shot in and around Anchorage, Alaska. The ice scenes were filmed at Beluga Point south of Anchorage, and several scenes which in the film took place in California were actually shot on location in the Turnagain neighborhood in west Anchorage: plants native to Southern California were used to dress the houses in those scenes. Real Alaska National Guardsmen were used to play the Guardsmen in the film.

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Goofs

Throughout the film, nobody's breath appears when they are outdoors, especially given the frigid temperatures that they were reporting.

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Quotes

Jill Jerard: [Doing a news report on the ice] Cut! God, my feet are numb. These boots are useless.
Jill Jerard: [motions to Nathan]
Jill Jerard: Hey kid, you still got that cardboard?
Nathan: I sold it to the other guy. But I can still get more! It's forty now, though.
Jill Jerard: Forty dollars?
Nathan: Shipping and handling.
Jill Jerard: ...Shipping and handling?
Nathan: [smirks] It's not my first rodeo, either.

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Crazy Credits

During the credits, on the left side are scenes from the movie characters and on the right side, archive footage of the real people.

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Connections

Referenced in Big Miracle: Drew's Cold Water Dive (2011)

User Reviews

Wholesome Family Movie

Bravo for creating a refreshingly clean family movie! It's encouraging and rare these days to have an opportunity to view a film the whole family can enjoy. Big Miracle is a wholesome, educational and entertaining movie that I happily recommend to anyone struggling like we often to to find a movie suitable for the under 15 crowd, that adults will also enjoy.

Big Miracle is loosely based on a true story and utilizes TV news clips from the Reagan era that we felt made the film very realistic. Ancient traditions, multi-generational challenges, morality, ethics, friendship, love and social responsibility are weaved into a story set in beautiful Alaska that made us laugh, cry and cheer along with the characters - it was a fun adventure into a world we didn't know much about.