Dolphin Tale
Recommended. Age: 7+. A Catholic review of this movie for parents.
Our review
A lonely boy named Sawyer finds a hurt dolphin on the beach. The dolphin loses her tail, and Sawyer and his new friends help build her a new one. Along the way Sawyer and his hurt cousin learn not to give up. This is a gentle, true-life family film about patience, hard work and caring for the weak. A wounded animal and a wounded soldier both find help because people refuse to give up on them. The one age is 7, set by Common Sense Media (MPA PG carries no age, and no Catholic classification was found). Expect a bloodied dolphin and a tail amputation, a cousin hurt in war, a few mild words, and a brief bedside prayer and a tribal dolphin legend.
For parents
Best for seven and up, set by Common Sense Media; the film is rated PG and no OSV News classification was found. Nothing sexual happens beyond swimsuits at a pool party. The opening shows Winter bloody and tangled in rope, and her tail is amputated, which may upset small children. Kyle comes home from war badly hurt and sad. Hazel prays that her late mother might hear her, and her father tells a legend about a goddess who made the first dolphins. Use both to talk about how we really pray for and with the dead, and about the God who made the sea. Ask: why did Sawyer keep coming back? How did helping Winter help Kyle? What does it mean that being hurt is not being broken?