Today I watched Big Miracle with my six-year-old
daughter. Based on a true story, this
movie deals with the plight of a family of whales who become trapped under the
ice during their migration and documents the surprising efforts of caring people
to free them. I must say, this movie
does live up to its name, which is saying a lot considering how much I rolled
my eyes seeing the title and sugary feel-good ads that swamped TV during its
original theater run. Still, it deals
with whales and stars the lovely and talented Drew Barrymore, and it was rated
a tame PG, so I felt like it would be a good choice.
I feel like this would be an
appropriate time to mention that I have seen and did not enjoy March of the Penguins, which many would
probably categorize this film with. I
enjoy Morgan Freeman and respect his body of work, but that film was a bit too
sad for me. Seeing the little egg touch
the ice and immediately freeze, killing the chick inside was quite traumatic
for me for some reason. Seeing their
pain made me feel for the birds and to respect them more, but the movie was not
what I would deem feel-good family fare.
I had watched it alone and afterwards decided against letting my girls
watch it. When my older daughter did
watch it with my mother, she said she enjoyed it, which did not smooth my
hackles over the issue that so many younger children watch it, perhaps without
parental guidance or to take the time to discuss the bigger issues
portrayed. I hate to go off on a
tangent, but I do feel that grouping these two movies together may not be the
best, most informed idea.
Watching this movie with my
daughter was fun, mostly because we had so much to discuss. I feel like there would be even more to
discuss if I could watch it with my older daughter sometime. There seemed to be an understanding about the
different factions working together for a common cause, like the Greenpeace
people, oil magnates, reporters who may be out for nothing more than the next
big story, native peoples, and even home audiences who only saw what was transmitted
through their televisions and newspapers.
This is very useful for dealing with issues such as point of view or
cultural ideas, especially since there was a conscious effort not be too
preachy on any front. Since the story is
mainly set in Alaska, there are economic issues, such as how expensive it can
be to live in Alaska, where so much must be imported. The little aside about the availability of
avocados for the Mexican restaurant Amigos was really neat and trumped the
supply and demand examples set by the preciousness of new music, batteries, and
even hotel rooms or, comically, cardboard for the reporters to stand on. Like many people, I do not really know much
about Alaska, although several of my classmates and old summer camp chums have
made their homes there. Since I have
suffered from arthritis since high school and am cold-natured, this was
probably the closest I would like to get to actually visiting.
I also enjoyed how the filmmakers
made time to work in other mini-lessons, such as differences between these grey
whales and the typical bowfins that would normally be found there and why those
whales would probably not have had such an issue. Biology and science can be tough to teach,
although they are literally all around us.
I think there could be many things that could come from this, such as
making a whale puppet together or even playing together in the tub or a pool
(when it gets warmer, of course!). My
daughter found it most interesting that whales breathe air because they are
mammals. This was a bit surprising,
since I thought she already knew, which made this movie even more valuable to
me. After a quick primer from me about
aquatic mammals, she decided to name a couple more, which made me happy. I’m thinking of peppering in more
mini-lessons in our daily life to see what comes from it.
Perhaps the saddest part was
watching the deterioration of the baby calf.
I expected my daughter to be sad, but she seemed to deal with it quite
well, highlighting a difference between my daughters. I felt a twinge of tears threatening to
trickle, but I have seen my older daughter cry during movies over less. This made me even happier when, at the end of
the movie, she clapped along with the actors as the whales made their
triumphant escape. It was great that the
end credits showcased original footage from the original event to see how the
events actually played out and who these people really were.
Perhaps the biggest payoff from
watching this movie with my daughter was when she curled up on me and told me
to warm her up because I was her mommy polar bear. Soooo sweet!
Overall, this was a really good
family movie. The acting was solid, and
the pace was appropriate. I hope that it
continues to be popular for years to come.
Overall Rating: 5 of 5 Stars
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