Dolphin Tale

Dolphin Tale is a 2011 family drama film directed by Charles Martin Smith from a screenplay by Karen Janszen and Noam Dromi starring Harry Connick Jr., Ashley Judd, and Morgan Freeman. The film is inspired by the true story of a bottlenose dolphin named Winter who was rescued off the Florida coast and taken in by the Clearwater Marine Aquarium.






Synopsis


A young boy, Sawyer Nelson (Nathan Gamble), befriends Winter, an injured bottlenose dolphin who loses her tail due to being entrapped in a crab trap in the Indian River in Fort Pierce, Florida. He motivates everyone around him to help save the dolphin by creating a prosthetic appendage to replace the dolphin's missing tail. Harry Connick Jr. plays a vet who rescues the mammal and brings her to the marine hospital he runs. Ashley Judd plays the boy's mother while Morgan Freeman is a doctor who creates a prosthetic limb for Winter.




Cast


Harry Connick Jr. as Clay Haskett
Nathan Gamble as Sawyer Nelson
Ashley Judd as Lorraine Nelson
Kris Kristofferson as Reed Haskett
Morgan Freeman as Dr. McCarthy
Cozi Zuehlsdorff as Hazel Haskett
Winter as herself
Ray McKinnon
Austin Stowell as Kyle
Jim Fitzpatrick as Max
Austin Highsmith as Phoebe
Kurt Yaeger as Tim
Marc Macaulay as John Fitch
Rus Blackwell as Coach Vansky
Michael Roark as Donovan Peck
Juliana Harkavy as Rebecca




Production


Dolphin Tale was filmed primarily in Pinellas County, Florida with the principal location centering around Winter's home, the Clearwater Marine Aquarium. Additional locations featured in the film include: Admiral Farragut Academy, Honeymoon Island, Tarpon Springs, and local news station Bay News 9.




Release


Dolphin Tale was released on September 23, 2011 in North America by Warner Bros. Pictures and Alcon Entertainment. The film can be seen in Real D 3D as well as 2D.




Marketing


The "Dolphin Tale" trailer was shown in theaters in front of Soul Surfer, Rio, Mr. Popper's Penguins, Cars 2, Winnie the Pooh, Spy Kids: All the Time in the World, and The Help.




Reception

Dolphin Tale met with good reviews from film critics. Rotten Tomatoes gave the film a 83% rating with the consensus "Wisely dialing down the schmaltz, Dolphin Tale is earnest, sweet, and well-told, a rare family film that both kids and parents can enjoy." Bing Movies gave the film 4 and a half stars. "Parents should know" site Common Sense Media gave the film 4 out of 5 stars and an "age 7" rating stating the film as a "heartwarming tale" that "is sweet, inspiring for kids and tweens". Metacritic also reported that people rated the film 64/100, indicating "generally positive reviews". Users on IMDb gave the film an overall mixed to positive 5.7 rating.