The defence The Sentimental Softie
“Sincerity is not manipulation.”
The film risks embarrassment to make emotion communal, and that openness is harder than fashionable detachment.
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Big Miracle
Adventure · Drama · Romance · 2012
A small-town news reporter and a Greenpeace volunteer enlist the help of rival superpowers to save three majestic gray whales trapped under the ice of the Arctic Circle.
Movie details
Big Miracle
“A family of whales trapped beneath the ice. One unforgettable rescue.”
2012 Adventure · Drama · Romance 1h 47m
Critical arithmetic
One number, for now.
Scores change. Arguments endure.
TMDB
6.7 / 10
Community rating
A small-town news reporter and a Greenpeace volunteer enlist the help of rival superpowers to save three majestic gray whales trapped under the ice of the Arctic Circle.
CriticWise case file
What this film says about your taste.
Not a recommendation score. A measure of how closely the film’s taste signals resemble yours.
The archetype split
Who fights over Big Miracle?
For the defence
The Sentimental Softie
“You came to feel something, and you will.”
Read their case For the prosecution
The Cool Ironist
“Feeling things is a little embarrassing.”
Read their objectionThe split comes from the same five-axis model used by the test, not audience ratings or review sentiment.
Taste neighbourhood
Nearby on the taste map.
TMDB supplies the candidates. CriticWise reorders them by craft, strangeness, prestige, emotion, and pace.
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Endless Night
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EO
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Mowgli: Legend of the Jungle
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A human child raised by wolves, must face off against a menacing tiger named Shere Khan, as well as his own origins.
Man in the Wilderness
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In the early 1800s, a group of fur trappers and Indian traders are returning with their goods to civilization and are making a desperate attempt to beat the oncoming winter. When guide Zachary Bass is injured in a bear attack, they decide he's a goner and leave him behind to die. When he recovers instead, he swears revenge on them and tracks them and their paranoiac expedition leader down.
Hereafter
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Moby Dick
Adventure · 1956
In 1841, young Ishmael signs up for service aboard the Pequod, a whaler sailing out of New Bedford. The ship is under the command of Captain Ahab, a strict disciplinarian who exhorts his men to find Moby Dick, the great white whale. Ahab lost his leg to that creature and is desperate for revenge. As the crew soon learns, he will stop at nothing to gain satisfaction.
Okja
Adventure · 2017
A young girl named Mija risks everything to prevent a powerful, multi-national company from kidnapping her best friend - a massive animal named Okja.
The Twilight Saga: New Moon
Adventure · 2009
Forks, Washington resident Bella Swan is reeling from the departure of her vampire love, Edward Cullen, and finds comfort in her friendship with Jacob Black, a werewolf. But before she knows it, she's thrust into a centuries-old conflict, and her desire to be with Edward at any cost leads her to take greater and greater risks.
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Names above the title
The people responsible.
Cast & crew
Directed by
Ken Kwapis
Written by
Jack Amiel · Michael Begler
Drew Barrymore
Rachel Kramer
John Krasinski
Adam Carlson
Kristen Bell
Jill Jerard
Vinessa Shaw
Kelly Meyers
Dermot Mulroney
Colonel Scott Boyer
Ted Danson
J. W. McGraw
Kathy Baker
Ruth McGraw
Court is in session
Put Big Miracle on trial.
Two incompatible taste archetypes. One film. Read the arguments, then issue a completely binding cultural ruling.
The prosecution The Cool Ironist
“The strings are showing.”
Every cue tells you exactly what to feel and when, leaving sentiment to do the work character should have done.