Dolphin Tale, Region 5, Reliance R599
Sawyer (Nathan Gamble) has a host of troubles: his father is absconding, he has very few friends, his favourite cousin is away on military duty and his school grades are low. Did we mention that he is shy? Sawyer is not interested in human beings, but he certainly does enjoy the company of the tail-less Winter, who is found injured on the beach. Sawyer skips summer school to lend a hand in Winter’s recovery at the local marine-animal rescue centre and simultaneously undergoes a personality makeover. But this isn’t just about a kid befriending a sociable creature; it is also overburdened with subplots like a hurricane, the rescue centre’s financial problems and Sawyer’s cousin’s injury.

The film is powered on the tiny shoulders of Gamble and Cozi Zuehlsdorff as his friend. Both Morgan Freeman, as a prosthetics specialist who has to come up with an artificial tail for Winter, and Ashley Judd as Sawyer’s mother, are wasted. Dolphin Tale adds nothing new to the animal-kid friendship genre that has been better dealt with in such films as Free Willy and Flipper. A twominute documentary towards the end, which shows how Winter has inspired physically handicapped kids and adults, is far more inspiring and entertaining. Now that might have been a good movie.