Winter: El delfín

We have been visiting Winter for years. She is very special and this movie certainly captures her amazing spirit. With all the big names in this movie, Winter is a star. This movie was sweet and fun. I am easily bored by kids movies but this one kept me entertained and wanting more. My 10 year old who wears a prosthesis LOVED this movie. Winter has helped her understand she is not alone and Winter's "nothing's going to stop me" attitude is fully displayed.

I was concerned how my 13 year old son would like the movie. It's hard to impress him these days. But he loved it!! He said he can't wait to see it again! Definitely is a movie that is worth seeing in the theater. I also think this movie is totally worth the 3D money! The 3D was REALLY fun!!

"Family is forever."

Although Dolphin Tale is by far not my favorite film of the year, like Midnight in Paris, it is a solid kids' film, an adventure that treats animals and 11 year olds with respect and doesn't demonize adults.

A dolphin, Winter, needs a new tail to survive a crab-trap entanglement, and 11 year old Sawyer Nelson is the new friend to help her through the adjustment. His job: show us that being excited about something worthwhile is the answer to school blues and mother loss. The film is aces at showing that being engaged in helping a living being leads to success and happiness.

A slew of other good-willed people help Winter, from like-minded friends to doctors to grandpas. And that's the sweet point of the film, emblazoned on an all-purpose Swiss Army knife: "Family is Forever." With two crucial families needing a mother in one and a father in the other, "family" extends to the community that nurtures children, adults, and animals. Not only does a Clearwater, Florida, marine rescue hospital need financial support to continue, so also does a crippled soldier and Winter. The figurative connections are obvious but still carefully entered into the drama so as not to heighten the sugar content.

Besides, any movie that includes Kris Kristofferson as a benevolent grandpa and Morgan Freeman as a caring prosthetics doctor can't be all bad. For a supposedly sophisticated film critic, I'm veritably childlike in the presence of these accomplished actors. BTW, Ashley Judd as single mom gets my attention, as she always does.

Yet that Winter, she's all any man could want: smart and silky with mysterious eyes that seem to say, "With our help, you men will make it just fine." No man bashing in this film, just recognition that communal charity and mutual respect will win the day.

Something about this Disneyesque, retro children's adventure makes me happy.

Dolphin Tale is about as obvious and by-the-numbers as you could possibly imagine from any inspirational animal film. If you saw a trailer, read the synopsis, or even made a rough guess based on the title, I'm betting you could come pretty close to guessing what this movie delivers. It's the kind of script that I could see a screenwriter inventing even if an actual tail-less dolphin didn't exist as the basis for their story. The most interesting element of Dolphin Tale is definitely the fact that Winter is a real dolphin and has actually dealt with the problems dramatized in this movie. Of course, the movie wants to focus on a character who can talk, so instead the plot is more about a young boy who wants to help save this injured dolphin. It's the "Free Willy" formula, and apparently it works for most people because this was a box office success. But the sad truth is that basically every detail of this film is a fabrication used to make a Hollywood story out of a unique animal that could be inspiring on her own.

Once I forced myself to ignore the discrepancy between reality and Dolphin Tale, I was able to get some enjoyment from it. It's hard not to be affected by the tug on your heartstrings when a movie is about a struggling boy who finally finds passion in his life. And, of course, that impact is increased by the fact that a crippled dolphin is part of that story. While most of this movie was overflowing with cliché, I did appreciate that it avoided going straight down every obvious pathway. There was one particular event that I expected from early on in the film, and I was surprised the movie never went there. Probably the most annoying aspect of Dolphin Tale is the trope of the aquarium running low on funds and needing to find a way to stay open. It was one additional layer of conflict that the movie didn't require. I can appreciate Dolphin Tale for what it is, and could even recommend it for family entertainment, but I also wish I could just watch a documentary about how Winter was truly saved.

Sawyer Nelson (Nathan Gamble) is stuck in summer school and his belove cousin Kyle, who is a champion swimmer, is going to war. One day, he helps rescue a dolphin entangled by a crab trap. The dolphin named Winter loses her tale and she needs her rescuer. Dr. Haskett (Harry Connick Jr.) reluctantly agrees to let him help. Kyle loses his leg in the war. Dr. McCarthy (Morgan Freeman) working on Kyle's prosthetic leg is recruited to develop a prosthetic tail for Winter.

It's a very lovely family movie. Sure it's pulling on all the heart strings. It's got a pelican sidekick, the adorable kid leads, war heroes, disabled kids, and the dolphin. It may be cheesy. It may be hokey. It may be corny. But I love it all. If you have a heart, you'll love it too.

I'm not sure if Dolphins like cheese, but I sure hope you do, if you are going to watch this movie. Seriously though: The movie has quite a few moments that might flip other movies over into complete kitsch. I don't know how they managed, but they stayed on the right side of kitsch if you wanna call it that.

And it is a kids movie after all. While I don't cut them too much slack (remember even if you're a kid watching, in 10-20 years you might wanna re-watch your "favorite" movies again and be bitterly surprised), this one just gets by it. There are a few story points that really are too much, but overall the movie is just too confident. Plus you've got to love Dolphins anyway (well at least I do) and their "tales" ...