[img]958|left|Alex Campbell||no_popup[/img]Dateline Boston — On the third day of our babysitting adventure, S.O. and I took the kids to see Dolphin Tale. At first, I was a little hesitant to take a 3- year-old and a 7-year-old to a PG-rated movie. Our friends, the parents, assured us that it was fine; they had been planning to take them anyway.
I was leery of the movie plot. In almost every children’s movie I’ve seen, there are good guys and bad guys, a scary part or two, and some sappy scenes. I felt protective of Rose, 3. In her short life, how many theater movies had she been to? Was I going to scar her for life, like I scarred my future stepsons when I took them to see Gremlins? Well, I would do what I could. I grabbed a couple of booster seats and we took our places.
I’m happy to report that Dolphin Tale was nothing like I expected, and everything a good children’s movie should be. The movie is based on a true story of a dolphin found stranded in Florida. The dolphin is rescued, but the rescuers discover that her tail is so badly damaged by a crab trap that it needs to be amputated. They name the dolphin Winter because they had good luck with dolphins named after the other seasons, and amputate her tail. Clever Winter figures out how to swim by waving her tail stump from side to side. Unfortunately, this creates problems in her muscles. If she keeps it up, she will die.
Spoiler alert!
Fast forward: Winter gets a prosthetic tail and learns how to swim with it up and down, like a proper dolphin. She thrives and everyone lives happily ever after. The one criticism I have is that there were too many subplots. Among them: marine life, loss of a parent, war, homeschooling, struggling non-profit vs. greedy developer, amputees, tropical storm, fundraising. Lots of topics…but, to the creators’ credit, they just touched upon them. They didn’t beat you over the head with them. I liked that. I would have liked the movie to be a tad simpler. Great performances by Harry Connick Jr. and Morgan Freeman. Winter played herself—she was fantastic.
Note to viewers: Be sure you have a box of tissues handy. You will cry your eyes out. I tried to keep track of how many times I got choked up. After three, I lost count. All in all, a very sweet, sentimental, triumph over tragedy movie, great for kids and adults. Educational, too!
Rose and Lucas sat through the whole thing. I did put my hand on Rose’s back during the storm scene because I was a little scared. The kids made sure to put their booster seats back where they belonged and we left the theater, happy as clams. Pun intended.
Ms. Campbell may be contacted at snobbyblog@gmail.com
