“Blue Miracle” Trailer Goes for the Heartstrings

It's been a while since we've gotten a movie designed for teachers to put on when they need to catch up on grading. Big studios just aren't putting those out anymore. But there will always be a need for movies like Stand and Deliver, October Sky and Remember the Titans. Something based on a true story but heavily fictionalized, with extra drama and a good lesson about believing in yourself.

So here comes Netflix with Blue Miracle to tell the story of a team of Mexican orphans and their caregiver. They had never fished before, but shocked the world by winning a major fishing tournament. Jimmy Gonzalez (Godzilla: King of the Monsters) plays Papa Omar, who maintains Casa Hogar, a local orphanage. When a hurricane devastates their region, he teams up with a has-been fisherman (Dennis Quaid) to win the big prize to save their home.

Blue Miracle premieres exclusively on Netflix on May 27.

About Kip Mooney

Like many film critics born during and after the 1980s, my hero is Roger Ebert. The man was already the best critic in the nation when he won the Pulitzer in 1975, but his indomitable spirit during and after his recent battle with cancer keeps me coming back to read not only his reviews but his insightful commentary on the everyday. But enough about a guy you know a lot about. I knew I was going to be a film critic—some would say a snob—in middle school, when I had to voraciously defend my position that The Royal Tenenbaums was only a million times better than Adam Sandler’s remake of Mr. Deeds. From then on, I would seek out Wes Anderson’s films and avoid Sandler’s like the plague. Still, I like to think of myself as a populist, and I’ll be just as likely to see the next superhero movie as the next Sundance sensation. The thing I most deplore in a movie is laziness. I’d much rather see movies with big ambitions try and fail than movies with no ambitions succeed at simply existing. I’m also a big advocate of fun-bad movies like The Room and most of Nicolas Cage’s work. In the past, I’ve written for The Dallas Morning News and the North Texas Daily, which I edited for a semester. I also contributed to Dallas-based Pegasus News, which in the circle of life, is now part of The Dallas Morning News, where I got my big break in 2007. Eventually, I’d love to write and talk about film full-time, but until that’s a viable career option, I work as an auditor for Wells Fargo. I hope to one day meet my hero, go to the Toronto International Film Festival, and compete on Jeopardy. Until then, I’m excited to share my love of film with you.