Opening Wide: 'Chronicle' and 'Big Miracle'

Three films will be opening in wide release this weekend. We’ll have a review of The Woman in Black up in due course, but in the meantime, here are brief notes on the two that we haven’t seen in advance, listed in order of priority.

• Chronicle. Teens who discover they have superpowers? Bleh. Found footage of teens who discover they have superpowers? Possibly more interesting. It’s all in the approach with this kind of thing, and the premise, at least, sounds like it has potential. Max Landis, son of director John Landis, wrote the screenplay, and Josh Trank, son of Mr. Trank (?), makes his directorial debut. The cast of unknowns adds to the intrigue.

• Big Miracle. Drew Barrymore and John Krasinski star; the official synopsis reads: “In small town Alaska, a news reporter recruits his ex-girlfriend – a Greenpeace volunteer – on a campaign to save a family of gray whales trapped by rapidly forming ice in the Arctic Circle.” I’ve heard from a friend who attended an early screening, and he opined that it was not as painful as he’d feared. Which isn’t exactly a ringing endorsement, but if you have wee little children who love whales, this might be the ticket.