Sawyer is a bit of a lonely boy. He dotes on his cousin Kyle who is about to be shipped out with the US armed forces and he is staring at the prospect of summer school on account of his poor grades. One day he stumbles upon a dolphin stranded on the beach, caught up in a crab cage. She is taken to the nearby marine life hospital where Harry Connick Jr’s kindly Dr Clay Haskett tries to nurse her back to health, but her tail has to be amputated. Sawyer becomes friends with Winter (her new name) and is devastated to learn that she will be unable to survive long without her tail.
When Kyle comes back from serving with a serious injury, Sawyer’s visit to a Veteran’s Hospital and a chance meeting with a prosthetic’s Doctor gives him a bright idea.
*****
On its theatrical release, Dolphin Tale came and went pretty quickly and could easily be dismissed as day time TV movie of the week fodder, especially given its “inspired by true events” tag. But there is a lot to enjoy and admire here, even if you can see its plot developments coming a mile off. It goes without saying that not every film needs to be heart-breaking, overwrought and down-beat; there is room for a heart-warming, triumph over adversity, everything works out swimmingly (sorry), tale and all but the most cold-hearted should find something to enjoy and smile at here.
The acting is pretty good across the board, with Nathan Gamble (Jim Gordon’s son in The Dark Knight) making a very effective lonely boy opposite Cozi Zuehlsdorff’s much more spunky Hazel (Dr Clay’s daughter). He gradually comes out of his shell in a convincing and affecting manner, even if it all plays out quite obviously. Alongside the aforementioned Connick Jr, we get Ashley Judd as Sawyer’s mother, Morgan Freeman as the prosthetic’s expert and Kris Kristofferson as Hazel’s grandfather. The script makes no great demands of any of them, but to their credit they approach their roles with appealing authenticity and energy, with Freeman in particular excelling as a light-hearted, unconventional Doctor.
The pacing is just fine, coming in at a sprightly 90 minutes, with much-welcomed real-life footage of Winter playing over the end credits. Yes, everything is wrapped up with a bow at the end, but it keeps moving along, shifts through the narrative and tonal gears, introduces problems to be overcome and heart-warming solutions and leaves you happy and satisfied. Which can only be a good thing.
Dolphin Tale is out today on DVD, Bluray and download. You can catch a copy here, or try to win a Bluray copy here.
[Rating:3/5]
Extras: None available for review, though one would expect making ofs and “the real story” docs and featurettes to abound.
[yframe url=’http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jdpg9NsgEaI’]
