Review of Dolphin Tale (2011) by Teddy W — 15 Aug 2014

The initial scenes of the movie show a pod of dolphins in their natural habitat followed by crab fishermen returning a crab trap to the ocean after emptying the trap of its contents.

In the next scene, Sawyer Nelson (Nathan Gamble) is biking along the beach when a fisherman (Richard Libertini), calls for help after finding an injured bottlenose dolphin tangled in a crab trap. The two call for assistance, and rescue workers from the Clearwater Marine Hospital, run by Dr. Clay Haskett (Harry Connick Jr.), take the injured dolphin for treatment. Clay's daughter Hazel (Cozi Zuehlsdorff) names the dolphin Winter, as two prior dolphins, Summer and Autumn, were successfully returned to the ocean, and thinks that using seasons as names will continue the streak. She allows Sawyer to see Winter. Clay initially does not approve of the arrangement since Sawyer is not trained or experienced in marine animal care, but after noticing that Winter responds well whenever Sawyer is around, he is permitted to visit. Soon Sawyer, who was enrolled in summer school due to his failing or nearly failing all his classes during the year, starts skipping classes daily to visit Winter. Sawyer's mother Lorraine (Ashley Judd) finds out about Sawyer skipping classes, but after seeing that Sawyer's interaction with Winter has improved his moods and well-being, something Sawyer had not shown since being abandoned by his father who disappeared five years earlier, she withdraws him from summer school and agrees to let him to volunteer at the hospital.