Hollywood Film Director Can’t Forget Family’s Escape from Castro’s Cuba

Director Julio Quintana knew he had a true story on his hands with “Blue Miracle,” but he took pains to make sure it wasn’t too true for comfort.

“If I had written this as a fictional story everyone would roll their eyes,” Quintana says of the debt-ridden orphanage rescued by a fisherman (Dennis Quaid) and some never-say-die Mexican lads. Even with a fact-based story from which to draw, the director still excised a few details that, while accurate, could make even true believers wonder about Hollywood excess.