Dolphin Tale

Dolphin Tale is the movie for the in-the-know 2011 adolescent. Delivered just in time for half term, it tells the story of Sawyer (Nathan Gamble) and his relationship with Winter, a dolphin who lost her tail in a crab trap, and their journey through her recovery. Throughout the story, however, are allusions to environmental issues and disasters, overfishing our seas, and even the Iraq War makes an appearance in a B-plot. Without letting the titular pun fool you, this isn’t a sugar-coated sickly sweet type of movie. Not necessarily predictable, the story is one of the struggle people go through in face of their flaws. For Sawyer, it’s his crippling shyness around other people and for the dolphin Winter (who is as engaging an actor as anyone with a speaking role, and in some cases more so) it’s learning how to be a dolphin without the defining characteristic of a tail.

Harry Connick Jr and Morgan Freeman throw in their acting chops for good measure. Connick Jr, especially as Dr. Clay, the marine biologist, proves to be endlessly charming and makes the perfect poster boy as father figure cum environmentally aware citizen.

The films overriding message is “Family is Forever”. A more appropriate one would probably be “Government institutions are horribly underfunded” but the film makes its way through with enough care and conviction to rival classics such as The Little Mermaid and Finding Nemo. It was a pleasant surprise and a more heartfelt alternative to the Disney factory-floor products that usually come out around this time of year. This film finds its feet, or more aptly its tail, with the story of facing challenges and rising against all odds.

See Dolphin Tale at York's Reel Cinema. Visit http://york.reelcinemas.co.uk/ for more information

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