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Review of Big Miracle (Cliff Eidelman)

FILMTRACKS RECOMMENDS:

Buy it... if you have endless patience for Cliff Eidelman when he expresses innocuous, restrained, and tepid character drama for smaller orchestral ensembles, aided here by a subtle layer of ethnic percussion.

Avoid it... if you expect to hear Eidelman return to the orchestral grandeur or outward, lush beauty of his work in the 1990's, replaced once again here by sparse renderings.

FILMTRACKS EDITORIAL REVIEW:

Big Miracle: (Cliff Eidelman) A media sensation was caused in October, 1988 when three gray whales became trapped in encroaching pack ice in Point Barrow, Alaska, leading to an international effort to save the animals as popular opinions about whales in general grew more protective. When Inupiaq hunters first discovered the whales, small-scale efforts were made to hammer additional holes in the ice and use pumps to circulate enough water to maintain those openings. When the media became involved, numerous state and national agencies turned their attention to the matter, attempting several futile measures until cooperation from two icebreakers from the Soviet Union finally proved partially successful. Ultimately, much criticism resulted from what became dubbed "Operation Breakthrough" because of the media's adverse impact upon the whales and the amount of money the government spent to save animals that have perished in such conditions for centuries without intervention. The 2012 movie Big Miracle is based upon Tom Rose's book about the incident, "Freeing the Whales: How the Media Created the World's Greatest Non-Event," and was originally titled "Everybody Loves Whales," a declaration that obviously didn't consult with Captain Ahab's point of view. The $30 million production is a hopelessly fuzzy, feel-good children's movie with Drew Barrymore in the lead, and with director Ken Kwapis at the helm, one of the beneficial results is another film score from Cliff Eidelman. Once considered one of the industry's rising stars in the early 1990's, Eidelman's career languished in the 2000's, and if not for his collaboration with Kwapis, the composer's career during this period could scarcely be deemed active. Their works together have spanned the dramatic, comedic, and romantic realms, and for Big Miracle he would be required to reach back to revive some of the orchestral gravity that impressed listeners so thoroughly at the start of his career. Kwapis was specific in his desire to avoid too much saccharine melodrama in the score, including the addressing of the whales with their own overblown identities. The movie follows so many subsets of characters that thematic attribution could have become a nightmare, so Eidelman chose to keep his identities closer to instrumental and rhythmic applications rather writing more than one memorable theme. On top of the multitude of characters, Eidelman was also tasked with addressing the expansive natural obstacles in that region, the culture of the Inupiat people, and the Russians involved in the plot.

Eidelman succeeds in covering all the basic needs of Big Miracle in his score, but he fails to meet the high expectations that listeners may have when initially hoping to equate this music with Free Willy 3: The Rescue. His orchestral ensemble is restricted to about 60 players, aided by native percussive layers and occasional accents like a solo female voice and acoustic guitar. None of these contributors, unfortunately, seems to have much passion written into their music or expressed in their performances, however, making their size seem significantly diminished. Eidelman's scores, since his initial burst onto the scene, have all tended to sound smaller and more intimate than they perhaps need to be, and Big Miracle is definitely another case in which the score seems too sparse and tepid for its topic. The softer character cues don't connect emotionally as you would expect, and the full ensemble expressions of force for the last few scenes in the film are not orchestrated and recorded in such a way as to boost the resonance of the full group. A lack of gravity in the entire work is its greatest weakness, the unique percussive effects and ethnic woodwinds not mixed prominently and the solo voice constrained to just a short cameo in the "Main Title" cue. The performances feature absolutely no convincing sincerity or warmth beyond their basic tones, and the dissatisfying atmosphere is topped off by a seemingly intoxicated trumpet player at 1:45 into "Pressure Ridge." All of that said, however, Eidelman's composition does cover enough of the necessary bases for the music to be basically functional. A few of his trademarks are apparent and serve their purpose, including his usual piano solos ("Bam Bam is Gone") and agitated string figures ("Answering the Call"). When the latter develops into an aggressive stance for the Russians, the score gains another dimension. The highlight of Big Miracle is Eidelman's main theme, its primary five-note phrase reminiscent of Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country and conveyed during the score's only cue of grandeur, "Freedom." The remainder is muted and conservative, the acoustic guitar, string, and woodwind "Where Are They Now" closing out the score with forgettable, innocuous restraint. The soft suspense material in the first half of the score is equally tentative, bordering on inaudible in some sequences. Collectors of Eidelman's works have long awaited the composer's return to orchestral magnificence (or, at least, some more outwardly empathetic warmth), and Big Miracle unfortunately does not deliver. While there is nothing technically wrong with the work (aside from the sparse rendering), it has to be considered an underachievement.  ***

TRACK LISTINGS:

Total Time: 51:22

• 1. Main Title (Whale Hunt) (2:05) • 2. Barrow (0:55) • 3. National News (3:15) • 4. Fighting the Ice (0:28) • 5. The World Beneath (2:19) • 6. Fred, Wilma and Bam Bam (1:22) • 7. Solid Ice (1:38) • 8. Pressure Ridge (5:09) • 9. Inupiats' Decision (1:42) • 10. Media Frenzy/Will It Work? (2:31) • 11. A Change of Heart (1:19) • 12. Kelly Can't Connect (2:20)

• 13. We're in Big Trouble Out Here (2:14) • 14. Generating Hope (1:13) • 15. The Barge Fails (1:20) • 16. New Breathing Holes (1:18) • 17. The Russians Make a Bet/Gorby, It's Ronny (2:24) • 18. It's Going to Be Okay (1:12) • 19. Missing (1:26) • 20. Bam Bam is Gone/A Prayer (3:52) • 21. Answering the Call (1:56) • 22. The Russians Break Through (4:13) • 23. Freedom (2:04) • 24. Where Are They Now (3:08)

NOTES & QUOTES:

The insert includes a list of performers and a note from the director about the film and score.

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