It is a shame they didn’t go for the better title, Ace in the Ice Hole, for this film, on the surface at least, shares obvious similarities with the Billy Wilder classic. However, rather than a man being trapped in a cave we get a far more cute family of grey whales cut off by the ice.

The film chronicles not only the rescue effort but also the way many people, from news reporters, oil companies and the President all profit from the tragic situation. However, where Ace in the Hole was a biting satire this is a limp feelgood movie that has about as much bite as the whales at the centre of the story. The words ‘warm-hearted’ appear about fifteen times on the DVD cover, it is such a wooly description but apt for a film that’s only ambition is to be like a comforting hug. There is of course a merit to these types of films but when the drama is this inert, the characters so mind-numbingly vanilla and the pace so pedestrian it is impossible to feel anything but utter apathy towards the film and the plight of the whales.