Save your money for something good and enjoyable

good film but with many flaws

I gave this film a 9 out of 10, because it was exactly what I expected it to be.

It is neither dumb nor smart enough to be fun, and spends way too much time with its boring human characters.

Well, it's not hard to see why this was a box office flop. Every attempt at being serious fails so miserably, resulting in a non-funny comedy about serious matters. Terribly unconvincing with very bad blue screen shots. Drew Barrymore is especially badly cast.

After having seen the wonderful "Dolphin Tale" last week, I put "Big Miracle" to the top of my queue, expecting another fine family film about whales, based on true events, and garnering favorable reviews and word of mouth. But unfortunately, while not a bad film, this one was largely disappointing. As others have pointed out, the arctic scenes of brutal cold looked anything but, and the fine cast seemed poorly directed. It was hard to tell if it was supposed to be a comedy or a drama, and ultimately not succeeding much at either, at least for adults. As one reviewer stated, it spent much of the time looking at a hole in the ice. It wasn't the worst film of its kind I have seen, but for me, it was better than fair, but not quite good. I have already watched "Dolphin Tale" three times, but will definitely not ever watch this one again.

It's nice to see a major release movie for a change that doesn't feel like it has to be a some gigantic blockbuster of a movie and it can be a good quality family type of movie.John Krasinski is still trying to transition from The Office into movies and has quite gotten his foot hold yet, maybe with this movie and the Promised Land movie he can make a step closer to accomplishing that goal.Drew Barrymore does the type of roles she's usually best at, being movies like this.Ted Danson is still going strong with CSI now and in recent years doing Damages and Bored to Death. Kristen Bell basically does the general decent performance but not great that she's growing accustom to.

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 wise man, the mean old oil tycoon turned good guy, the unlikely geniuses who provide comic relief, and even the self-absorbed douche bag news anchor had me fearing for its quality This is a slow movie. Prepare to watch people standing around a hole in the ice. If you think gray whales are a waste of time, you won't be moved. On the other hand, if you can pull for a family of marine mammals in danger of freezing to death, you will probably find satisfaction in this movie's numerous charms