Alyssa et les dauphins

I took my 5 year old son to a festival screening of EYE OF THE DOLPHIN expecting a "family film", but it actually turned out to have a lot more substance than I expected. My son was captivated by the beauty and the dolphins, but I think (especially since now I know the MPAA rating is PG13) the film aims for a slightly more mature audience. I could see this film being great for teens and tweens.

Performances in the film were pretty good. I mean how can you go wrong with an Oscar nominee (Katherine Ross) teaming with veteran actors like Jane Lynch, George Harris, and Adrian Dunbar. On top of that the young actress that played Alyssa did an excellent job as the troubled teen turned good and I'm sure that she is going to be very successful.

Overall my family enjoyed the film. I'd mostly recommend the film for parents to take their tweens and teens to (it might go over the heads of little kids).

Alyssa is a troubled 14-year old. What a surprise.

Suspended from school a year after her mother has drowned, her grandmother Lucy, who doesn't want to be called grandma -- doesn't that explain Alyssa? -- at wit's end, decides to take Alyssa to her father, James, whom Alyssa thought was dead for years.

Some family.

He studies dolphin communication at Smith's Point, on the Grand Bahama Island. James has not known of Alyssa's existence and is clueless about parenthood. Amazing.

The women arrive at the same time that James may lose his research operation to a tourist attraction. Convenient.

Father, daughter, dolphins, and town are on a collision course. Alyssa and James get encouragement from James's girlfriend and her father. It's the dolphins who can teach, and Alyssa who discovers how to listen.

What a pitch. The film is just OK, but it's not surprising it made no money.

To be honest, I wasn't looking forward to this film, but I came away from it really impressed. Even though it's somewhat corny at times, it deals with some fairly complex issues. There was emotion, drama, and even some well-placed humor. The film looks great, and has some impressive performances, especially from some of the more minor characters. Plus, there were the dolphins. Ahhhh, the dolphins. Very cute, and very funny, as always. Granted, it's not my kind of movie, but it's very well made, and definitely enjoyable. I would highly recommend this to anyone into teen/family dramas, or anyone who's a fan of dolphins.

I enjoy dolphins. I was happy to watch this movie on netflix. It was done okay. Though it seems to be a story about a daughter and a father. I do not know what the plot is really about. It was fair movie in that case.

Though there seems to be part of the dolphin what they can teach us in their ways. The cast was good. I would watch with children. There a little drinking and I would only allow children around 13 with this movie. Other then that it find. Teenagers around 13 an up is good for this movie. I would let parents decide for their children.

"Eye of the Dolphin", with a title like that you would expect the film to be a cheesy family flick or sweet adventure for the little ones. Well, although it is a film a family can watch and enjoy together and has dolphins swimming around and jumping about in a beautiful location, cheesy and sweet are not words I would choose to describe this movie.

Eye of the Dolphin is an eye opening, thoughtful, and engaging experience. With a lovely cast starring Carly Schroeder, your not so typical teenage girl. Granted young girls like make-up, boys, and talking but they are at a stage in their life where the slightest troubles and tragedies can throw their whole world askew into the dark abyss of adolescence.

Although they are young they have an innate ability to relate and associate themselves with those who they find similar. And who better to do that than Alyssa, a troubled teen who has just lost her mother, is being expelled from school, and is forced to live in a new place where she knows no one especially the father she thought she didn't have.

This film explores the nature of the father and daughter relationships. At a time that is the most difficult for the majority because it is at a period where dad and daughter are the most distant from each other. Coming from two completely different worlds where both suddenly have to discover new ways to relate and communicate.

We are also given snippets of questions and ideas to ponder. How to stand up for what your passionate about. No matter how estranged, how important family is. What is valuable to a community? Where is the line drawn between science and spirituality?

To add to all of this is the element of adventure Alyssa brings to the screen. Who wouldn't love the ability to communicate with animals and swim free in the wild with dolphins? There is also one last thing that ties this all together for the film, its beauty. Not only is it shot on location in the Bahamas but the cinematography is gorgeous. The colors draw you into the tropical and underwater world of Alyssa and Rosca her new dolphin friend.

All in all this is a film that pleasantly surprises and succeeds on many levels. Most of all when you walk away you will say to yourself..."I wish I could swim with dolphins!"