Summer isn't looking so great for Sawyer (Nathan Gamble). He is stuck in summer school, and his cousin and best friend (not to mention local swim legend) Kyle (Austin Stowell) has just gone off to war. Everything changes, though, when he runs across an injured dolphin on the beach and meets Dr. Clay Haskett (Harry Connick Jr.) and his daughter Hazel (Cozi Zuehlsdorff). He helps Dr. Haskett and Hazel rehabilitate the dolphin named Winter, but complications arise when Winter loses her infected tail and cannot properly swim without damaging her spine. They enlist the help of Dr. Cameron McCarthy (Morgan Freeman) who builds prosthetic limbs for a local VA hospital. Together, they build a new tail for Winter, and in the process, they changed the way we build prosthetic limbs today.
As far as family entertainment goes, Dolphin Tale is a solid film. The cast is very good, and the true story behind the film is inspirational. Where I think the film falls short is in the invented fluff added for dramatic or comedic effect. There is a wholly unnecessary sequence where Sawyer and Hazel fly a toy helicopter. I suspect the only reason why it is in the movie is that it was filmed in 3D, and they needed a big chase sequence. The CGI work is pretty weak throughout the movie, but here, it was almost painful to watch.
My favorite part of Dolphin Tale (and the reason why I was able to forgive many of the film's faults) was the look at the real-life Winter at the end of the film right before the credits. There is a reason why people felt so strongly that Winter's story should be shared with the world. At the end of the day, though, I really would have preferred to watch a documentary about the real Winter and the people who rehabilitated her without the Hollywood schmaltz.
SPECIAL FEATURES
Special features include 2 mini-documentaries about the real Winter called Winter's Inspiration and At Home with Winter, a featurette about the opening underwater 3D sequence (which frankly I didn't find impressive at all), an animated short with the story of the Rainbow Bridge narrated by Harry Connick Jr., the animated short Ormie and the Cookie Jar, a deleted scene, and a gag reel.
"Dolphin Tale" is on sale December 20, 2011 and is rated PG. Children & Family. Directed by Charles Martin Smith. Written by Karen Janszen, Noam Dromi. Starring Ashley Judd, Austin Stowell, Cozi Zuehlsdorff, Harry Connick Jr, Morgan Freeman, Nathan Gamble.
