DOLPHIN TALE | FAMILY MOVIE REVIEW INFORMATION FOR PARENTS AND KIDS

"DOLPHIN TALE"
(2011) (Morgan Freeman, Ashley Judd) (PG)

QUICK TAKE:: Family Drama: A boy, still struggling with his parents' divorce years earlier, forms a special connection with an injured dolphin he helps rescue.

PLOT:

In Florida, Sawyer Nelson (NATHAN GAMBLE) is a sad-eyed young boy still reeling from his father abandoning him and his mother, Lorraine (ASHLEY JUDD), five years earlier. He looks up to his older cousin, Kyle (AUSTIN STOWELL), a soldier who is about to be deployed to Afghanistan.

Having gotten terrible grades in school, Sawyer is ordered to attend summer school. One morning, on his bike ride to class, he comes across an injured dolphin and gets in touch with a rescue center. Dr. Clay Haskett (HARRY CONNICK JR.) and his young daughter Hazel (COZI ZUEHLSDORFF) quickly arrive and take the dolphin back to their facility. They name him Winter, but his tail has become so infected that Dr. Haskett has to amputate it. Unable to swim properly, Winter risks greater injury the longer he is in the water.

Meanwhile, Kyle has been badly injured in Afghanistan and returns to the States to recover at a V.A. hospital. He is very depressed, having suffered partial paralysis on the right side of his body. On a visit to the hospital, Sawyer and his mom meet Dr. McCarthy (MORGAN FREEMAN) who specializes in creating prosthetic limbs for amputees. They challenge him to make a prosthetic tail for Winter so that he can learn to swim properly again. But the clock's ticking, as Dr. Haskett's facility is running out of money and a developer has shown interest in buying the property and turning it into a resort.

WILL KIDS WANT TO SEE IT?: Yes. The two main characters are a grade-school boy and girl who together help rescue an injured dolphin and return the creature to health. The film has been getting heavy ad play on the various kid-targeted cable-TV channels like Nickelodeon and the Cartoon Network.

WHY THE MPAA RATED IT: PG: For some mild thematic elements.

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