Cute, family-friendly animal films often devolve into mawkish sentimentality. Director Charles Martin Smith’s Dolphin Tale happily proves to be one of the exceptions—an endearing, emotionally intelligent film that touches the heartstrings without pulling on them.

The film revolves around the true-life story of Winter, a dolphin who washed ashore a Florida beach with her tail caught in a crab trap. Though the Clearwater Marine Aquarium rescues her, Winter’s tail soon becomes infected, and the doctors are forced to amputate the tail. A prosthetics specialist soon learns of her plight and designs a prosthetic tail to help her swim naturally.

Built around this true story is an invented coming-of-age story about an introverted young boy (Nathan Gamble) who discovers Winter on the beach. His interest in the dolphin’s well-being and the aquarium staff’s discovery that the boy is the only person to whom Winter responds compel the boy to leave his shell and assist in rehabilitating the dolphin.

Gamble is a fine young actor, movingly portraying the angst and aimlessness of a boy whose father has abandoned him and his mother (Ashley Judd) and who slowly gains confidence as he finds purpose in the dolphin’s plight. Judd does an exceptional job conveying a mix of emotions at her son’s blossoming.

The film boasts a strong supporting cast, starting with Morgan Freeman as the eccentric prosthetics specialist whom the boy convinces to develop a new tail for Winter. Harry Connick Jr. also does a fine job as the doctor at Clearwater Marine Aquarium, a laid-back personality forced to confront the aquarium’s dire financial circumstances while struggling to save Winter and the other animals under his care.

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