Originally published on metropolis.co.jp on July 2012

Big Oil, Inupiat Eskimos, Greenpeace, Alaska and even the Soviets find themselves unlikely allies, albeit mostly for non-altruistic PR reasons, in rescuing a trio of gray whales trapped by an early freeze and able to get air through only a small and rapidly closing hole in the ice. Inspired by events in 1988, this is an ode to putting politics aside and getting things done. Listening, Washington? Sounds a bit bland, yes, but it plays like an action movie once it gets rolling, and each likable actor (John Krasinski, Drew Barrymore, Ted Danson) strikes the right note. Thinking family approved.