“Why are we going to see “Free Willy: 2012 Edition?” my husband asked this weekend. Granted, “Big Miracle” – the new family film starring Drew Barrymore and John Krasinski – is set in a rural community in Alaska, not Washington, and features the plight of three grey whales, not one orca. Still. The parallels remain.

As cheesy as “Free Willy” was, it enjoyed commercial success, and I remember enjoying it as a child. Animals + Kids = Easy win. So I had relatively high hopes for this 2.0 whale flick, and I wasn’t disappointed.

The movie, while not Oscar-bait, has heart, humor and enough cute whale moments to make you want to give to Greenpeace.

“Big Miracle” is based on the true-life news story that captured the attention of millions in 1988: A family of three grey whales finds itself stranded in a patch of ice in the Beaufort Sea near Point Barrow, Alaska, with no route to the ocean. Without human intervention, the small hole in the ice, through which the mammals were breathing, would close and the whales would die. The family, affectionately dubbed “Fred,” “Wilma” and “BamBam,” is discovered by local Inuit hunters, the youngest of whom is an adolescent boy named Nathan (Ahmaogak Sweeney). Nathan tells his friend Adam Carlson (Krasinski) of the situation, and Adam, a newbie Anchorage television reporter making his rounds through the tundra, brings the story to the newswire.

In a matter of days, the whale’s tale has been picked up by media outlets throughout the nation. A swarm of reporters descends upon the tiny town, along with one feisty Greenpeace activist (Barrymore), who also happens to be Carlson’s ex-girlfriend. What unfolds over the next few days is one of those stories that sticks with you. Enemies in business and in politics join together in a common goal, and for one moment, there is only unity and joy.

Naturally, a story with this kind of squeaky clean veneer can easily veer into the melodramatic – which it does – but you forgive it those moments in exchange for characters like Rob Riggle’s. Riggle plays half of a lean, mean Minnesotan team of entrepreneurs whose trademark fan system may be just the help the activists need to buy the whales some breathing time. Then there’s Kristen Bell as power-driven newswoman, Ted Danson as a slightly smarmy oil tycoon and Dermot Mulroney as a sexy, stoic fighter pilot (yum.) All the actors commit to their roles, and because they believe, so do you.    

And if you didn't believe, just stick around for the credits, where you'll see real photos and footage from the actual incident. It's hard to argue with that.

Catch it at:

* The Regal Cinema at 1:45 p.m., 4:30 p.m., 7:10 p.m., 9:50 p.m.

* AMC Tilghman 8 in South Whitehall at ‎‎1:50 p.m., ‎4:30‎ p.m. and ‎7:20 p.m.‎

* The Rave at the Promenade Shops at Saucon Valley at ‎‎1‎ p.m., 4:15 p.m., ‎7 p.m., 9:45 p.m‎.