Parents' Guide to

Big Miracle

By Sandie Angulo Chen, Common Sense Media Reviewer

age 8+

Animal-rescue tale has one death but otherwise OK for kids.

Movie PG 2012 107 minutes
Big Miracle Poster Image

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this movie.

Community Reviews

age 8+

Based on 17 parent reviews

age 10+

definitely NOT 'a few' exclamations

The movie itself was fine. Nothing great by any means. As my children get older, I have come to depend on Common Sense Media to help educate myself on movies and other media. CSM really missed the boat on this one. (ha! no pun intended) I usually also read parent reviews but obviously did not on this one. My bad on that. From the CSM review I expected mild language. Not to hear 'what the hell...' 10 or so times. I am normally pretty strict on not letting the my children watch movies with inappropriate language. They commented that they could not believe I let them watch it. And I could not believe it every time I heard 'hell' another time! So, if language is a sticking point for you, heed the warnings on these reviews. It is NOT just a few exclamations. It is fairly prevalent.

This title has:

Too much swearing
1 person found this helpful.
age 8+

Heartwarming Family movie

What a great movie. Watched it for family movie night and all from 8-85 loved it.

This title has:

Great messages
Great role models

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say (17):
Kids say (24):

Based on a mostly forgotten news story from the late '80s, this is the kind of entertaining, historical, even educational family-friendly film that will appeal to parents and older kids alike. There are no commercial tie-ins or CGI-hybrid talking animals, and all of the actors are charming -- especially Barrymore and Krasinski, but also Ted Danson as a rich oilman, Dermot Mulroney as a focused National Guard officer, and Kristen Bell as an ambitious Los Angeles reporter covering the story up north.

One of the best aspects of the movie is that despite being firmly rooted in the '80s (a fact that's reinforced by glimpses of real news spots about the whales and references to Walkmans and Def Leppard), there isn't an oppressive amount of '80s nostalgia included in the story. And although various political perspectives are shared, everyone wins as the groups come together for the sake of the whales. A downside is that the pacing feels off at times (brisk in some parts, dragging in others), and the movie may be a tad too "grown up" for younger kids. Otherwise, it's a decent and thought-provoking family pick.

Movie Details

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