Big Miracle

For a movie that’s based on a true story, Big Miracle requires an enormous suspension of disbelief.

It’s a slick crowd-pleaser about the rescue of trapped whales that focuses too much on the rescuers and not enough on the rescuing.

The film is based on the saga of a trio of gray whales trapped underneath a sheet of ice off the northern coast of Alaska that prompted national headlines and an international goodwill effort to free them.

There’s plenty of feel-good material when the whales (not from the most photogenic of species) are in the spotlight, but the plot becomes cluttered with too many humans who aren’t as compelling.

There’s the small-town news reporter (John Krasinski) who first breaks the story and aspires to land a job in a larger market. Throw in a Greenpeace activist (Drew Barrymore) whose well-intentioned environmental concerns sometimes get in the way of practicality.

An oil tycoon (Ted Danson) arrives with greedy opportunistic goals that become softened once he realizes the public-relations potential in helping the cause. A national news reporter (Kristen Bell) sees a chance to earn the trust of her network producers. An eccentric Minnesota inventor (James LeGros) arrives with a gadget to help melt the ice. A National Guard officer (Dermot Mulroney) warms to the task after initially scoffing at its insignificance. And the list goes on.

Big Miracle has some harmless fun with the quirks of the chilly Alaskan town of Barrow, along with its townsfolk and traditions. Even Sarah Palin makes an amusing cameo via archival footage from her days as an Alaskan sportscaster.

But the film becomes distracted with contrivances and corny romantic subplots and is too careful not to paint anyone — whether local or visitor — as a villain.

Veteran sitcom director Ken Kwapis (The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants) works from a screenplay by the tandem of Jack Amiel and Michael Begler (Raising Helen), who adapted the book Freeing the Whales by Thomas Rose.

Since this is a family film, the lessons about ecology, cooperation and finding common goals might resonate with smaller children.

Just don’t expect any subtlety or surprises. After all, the title pretty much gives away the ending, as if there was any doubt.

Rated PG, 107 minutes.