Michael Begler

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Filmmaker

Big Miracle Review

By Rich Cline

Very Good

A grounding in the real-life story makes this film much less sentimental than it looks. Strong characters, some surprisingly dark touches and a genuinely thrilling series of events helps to engage us right to the end.

In 1988 Barrow, at the top of Alaska, aspiring reporter Adam (Krasinski) stumbles across three whales trapped beneath the icecap. Unable to reach the open sea, there's just a tiny hole in the ice that lets them breathe. Adam's report goes viral, grabbing the attention of America's press as well as his Greenpeace-activist ex Rachel (Barrymore). And the rescue effort will require an L.A. journalist (Bell), military pilot (Mulroney), Inuit boy (Sweeney), whale expert (Nelson), oil baron (Danson), White House rep (Shaw), two chuckleheads from Minnesota (LeGros and Riggle) and the Russian Navy.

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Raising Helen Review

By Pete Croatto

Weak

The poster for Raising Helen features Kate Hudson, in a pose suited for a bearskin rug, sporting shorts shorter than the Hulk's temper and fuzzy boots last seen at the hottest strip joint in Anchorage. It's an attempt at marketing a warm and fuzzy movie for guys 25 to 34, but the poster is really a harbinger for how misguided Garry Marshall's latest effort is.

Raising Helen is all about Hudson, who stars in the title role, when it should focus on other topics -- the ties of family, coping with tragedy, and starting your life from scratch. The movie harps on how Helen's glamorous life is turned upside down when she is bequeathed her sister's three kids. The story should be on how hard it is for the kids, rather than Helen's bemoaning how fat her ass has gotten.

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