Director: Charles Martin
Smith
Writers: Karen Janszen, Noam
Dromi
Starring: Nathan Gamble,
Cozi Zuehlsdorff, Harry Connick Jr., Ashley Judd, Morgan Freeman, Kris
Kristofferson, Austin Stowell
“Dolphin Tale” is an
innocuous family film. I suppose that’s not exactly the strongest compliment
that you can throw at a movie, but there it is. There isn’t much to find
offense with in the film. It tells the true story of Winter, a dolphin who was
found on the coast of Florida wrapped up in a crab trap. This is a tale of an unlikely survival.
Winter’s wounds were so
severe, her tail had to be amputated. She plays herself in the movie, so you
can assure your children there will be a happy ending. Sawyer is the boy who
found her, and this is his story too. His father left him and his mother
several years prior, and Saywer still struggles to cope with this development.
On top of that his cousin and surrogate brother/father is being deployed to the
Middle East. His family worries that Sawyer will disappear into himself, until
he discovers Winter.
The adults, Harry Connick
Jr., Ashley Judd, and Morgan Freeman, offer some good support for the dolphin
and the kids. Sawyer meets a girl at the Marine Hospital. We learn that Winter
will die from her wounds even though her tail has been amputated and she’s
learned to swim with what’s left. In order to save her they must develop a
prosthetic tail, and she needs to accept it. Also, there’s a subplot that the
story could’ve done without even if it was true about a land developer who buys
the hospital to make room for yet another hotel.
The film has some fairly
shoddy special effects that were created mostly for the shoddy 3D effects of
its original theatrical release format. I’m not sure who thought that this was
a story that needed to be told in 3D. I hope they’re looking for a new job; but
since the choice was probably purely financial, he probably got a promotion.
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