Big Miracle, a heartwarming film families will enjoy, could be a commercial for Greenpeace or environmentalists, but the story is actually inspired by true events back in the ‘80s. Based on the book Freeing the Whales by Thomas Rose, the movie follows a woman who ends up fighting an entire Alaskan town as well as big corporations while on a mission to save three whales.

Alaska in the ‘80s is crowed with big oil companies while President Reagan focuses his attention on the Cold War. When three whales become trapped in an ice hole in Barrow, environmentalist Rachel Kramer (Drew Barrymore) descends on the town. She breaks into a meeting where oil tycoon J.W. McGraw (Ted Danson) is closing his deal with locals. After Rachel stands and verbally lashes out at J. W. about the damage his project will do to the environment, she’s thrown out of the room.

There were no cell phones or satellite feeds back then, so the story about these trapped whales -- named Fred, Wilma and Bam-Bam -- slowly makes its rounds in the media. Soon journalists are everywhere in town, some even with no place to stay because the town is very small. One of these journalists is Barrow newsman Adam Carlson (John Krasinski) -- Rachel’s ex-boyfriend -- who feels tired of doing weather reports and wants to up his game at a bigger station.   

Even the local Iñupiat tribesmen oppose saving the whales, for they want the whale meat to feed their tribes, which has been a way of life for generations. But one tribesman, Malik (John Pingayak), recognizes that the news footage of a town letting whales die would not be good for them. However, he has more at stake than bad news, as he wants to teach his grandson Nathan (Ahmaogak Sweeney, excellent in his first film) lessons about his culture. This is illustrated in one amusing scene when Malik shows Nathan how to lie down and put his ear on the ice to listen to the moans of the troubled whales. Nathan obeys his grandfather and pretends to hear the whales, but he’s actually wearing ear buds from his music player.

Eventually many who oppose the measures needed to save the whales do an about face, and it’s really fascinating when President Reagan asks a U.S.S.R. ice cutter to come help with the operation.

Performances in the film come across as heartfelt --  some even very funny. For example, Kristen Bell is quite amusing as Jill Jerard, a big city journalist who heads to Barrow intent on getting the “big” story but never thinking about being prepared for the weather.

Barrymore does a great job pouring on the guilt to those who want to ignore the whales. “They are so much like us; we’re vulnerable and we get scared and we need help sometime too,” she says while petting one of the whales who comes up for air.

I also really enjoyed Pingayak’s genuine portrayal of Malik. The filmmakers cast many local natives in the film, and Pingayak is one of them. Although never acting in a movie before, he boasts experience as a dancer and lecturer. Pingayak’s heartfelt stories of the whales and his ability to understand their plight contribute to his believability here.

Big Miracle serves as an example of how big government often makes the wrong choices and can make better ones by listening to the majority. Parents should be cautioned that one of the whales does die from an illness in the film. Still, the movie tells a great story about hope -- one highlighting an actual event in history as well as interesting aspects of the Alaskan people.

(Released by Universal Pictures and rated “PG” for language.)

Review also posted at www.reviewexpress.com.