Dolphin Tale review

A dolphin named Winter, whose amputated tail was replaced with a revolutionary prosthesis

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This family flick benefits hugely from its core casting coup: dolphin Winter, whose amputated tail was replaced with a revolutionary prosthesis, plays herself. Loner kid Sawyer (likeable Nathan Gamble) stumbles on the injured bottlenose on a Florida beach, bonding with her and with dolphin-doctor’s daughter Hazel (Cozi Zuehlsdorff). Predictability is inherent (we know Winter goes on to become a movie star), but an eccentric Morgan Freeman (as a prosthetics designer) counterpoints the schmaltz in a film as slick, charming and eager-to-please as a SeaWorld cetacean.

Matt Maytum
Matt Maytum
Editor, Total Film

I'm the Editor at Total Film magazine, overseeing the running of the mag, and generally obsessing over all things Nolan, Kubrick and Pixar. Over the past decade I've worked in various roles for TF online and in print, including at GamesRadar+, and you can often hear me nattering on the Inside Total Film podcast. Bucket-list-ticking career highlights have included reporting from the set of Tenet and Avengers: Infinity War, as well as covering Comic-Con, TIFF and the Sundance Film Festival.

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