Blue Miracle Parent Guide

Omar Venegas (Jimmy Gonzales) has his hands full. Along with his wife, Becca (Fernanda Urrejola), he runs Casa Hogar, an orphanage for street kids. Having grown up on the streets, “Papa Omar” is desperate to keep his boys safe. But the orphanage is over $100,000 in debt, donors are drying up, and when Hurricane Odile hits Cabo San Lucas in 2014, the orphanage floods and sustains some expensive damage.

Looking for financial help, Omar drops by to see Wayne Bisbee (Bruce McGill) just as the founder of the Bisbee Black and Blue fishing tournament is arguing with a past champion. Wade Malloy (Dennis Quaid) can’t afford the entrance fee but if he partners with a Mexican crew, the fee will be waived. Sensing a win-win opportunity, Bisbee puts Malloy and the Casa Hogar boys together. If they can catch the biggest marlin over the three day tournament, they will win over $200,000, which will save the orphanage.

Underdog sports films can easily sink into saccharine predictability, but Blue Miracle thankfully avoids this trap. It does so by giving the main characters some depth. Omar isn’t a saint – he’s a decent man fighting his own demons, particularly trauma around the drowning death of his father. And he has to weigh the lure of easy, dishonest money against the need to both save his orphanage and teach his boys the value of character and integrity. Dennis Quaid also brings to life a complex Captain Malloy – a rangy, muscled man who’s gone to seed and is carrying too many off road miles. Throw in boys who are more than just “generic orphans” and this production has enough sympathetic characters to keep viewers interested through the three days of the tournament.

Let me state up front that I have zero interest in fishing, which I consider insanely boring. But I love this movie. And if a person like me, with no interest in the sport, enjoys the film, I’m confident that almost any other viewer will enjoy it.

For families, Blue Miracle is a win. Negative content is minor aside from some adult alcohol consumption and references to off screen violence. It’s also stunningly beautiful to watch – the decrepit orphanage is washed in shades of turquoise and the jaw-dropping ocean vistas are their own miracle in blue, as they glow in every shade of navy, cerulean, ultramarine, and aqua.

Best of all the movie is flooded with positive themes of integrity, courage, compassion, community service, persistence, forgiveness, and second chances. Omar is determined to not just provide shelter to his boys but to teach them to be honest men of good character. (Religious parents will also be pleased that he encourages the boys to pray.) When an acquaintance from Omar’s past scornfully says, “When you have a problem you can’t solve with hopes and prayers we’ll see what the real Papa Omar is made of,” he challenges not only Omar but all of us in the audience to give our all to making the world a better place for the less fortunate. And that message is far weightier than any fish – even a prize-winning marlin.