Taking a tip from the oil industry, Hollywood has started exploiting Alaska. Following in the tracks of The Grey is Ken Kwapis's take on a true story from 1988 about an effort to save gray whales trapped in the Arctic ice. Surprisingly, the film offers genuine complexity. Adam (John Krasinski), a local TV reporter, gets the scoop, and the story goes the pre-digital version of viral. It proves a boon not just to Adam's career, but also to other special interests, including that of Greenpeace activist Rachel Kramer (Drew Barrymore), who sees it as an opportunity to vilify the petroleum industry, and of oil company honcho J.D. McGraw (Ted Danson), who needs positive PR. Even the Reagan administration gets involved, hoping for campaign material to help push the elder Bush over Dukakis. In short, Miracle eschews black and white — even the Inupiat have ulterior motives — for shades of grey.
