Disturbing yet enthralling

The first must-see film of the year.

The plot isn't so bad, but the pace of storytelling is too slow which makes people bored. Certain moments are so obvious and unnecessary for the main plot. I would've fast-forwarded those moments if it was an online streaming. The ending looks like implying a sequel, not sure if this movie will get one

The tone of this movie is interesting -- the stakes are both dramatic and high, but it's balanced with a lot of fun, tongue and cheek dialogue.

I got the DVD from my public library. Hadn't heard of it before but thought how bad could it be with a dolphin. But the movie is cute and funny in a Disney-like way and I can't think of anything offensive for younger audiences (does show drinking and smoking in a few scenes). The ending is a little sugary sweet for my adult taste but the only part of the film that's overdone.Watching the movie was like taking a mini-vacation away from the freezing Jan. temps outside. After seeing the long slow shots of the turquoise water and coral beach, the brightly painted houses, and hearing the lilt of the local Bahamian supporting cast, you can almost feel the tropical breeze. Makes me want to jump on a plane to the Bahamas right now.This movie is one that the whole family can enjoy-how rare is that!

I had absolutely no interest in seeing the film and only did so after I was able to get some promotional tickets. Though the story sells like a coming of age tale, it's much better than that. The beginning is a bit cliché but once the story begins to take hold it becomes a unique and enjoyable film experience. Carly Schroeder is a fun actress to watch. It will be interesting to watch her acting career develop in the next few years. George Harris and Christine Adams are wonderful and tend to steal the scenes without trying. Jane Lynch is always a welcome addition and adds some class to the whole film. The story, though obviously geared towards younger girls does not discriminate against age or sex; it's a fun film for anyone.

(THE SPOILER DOESN'T COME UNTIL THE END, AND IT'S WELL MARKED)Matthew, you're to be commended for your concern for marine mammal welfare but your comments miss the mark and are unfair to the movie.You say: "The film portrays dolphins in the wild as friendly and sociable with humans, in fact wild dolphins prefer to keep clear of human contact if possible and can pose a threat."You seem to be saying, among other things, that you view it as implausible that a wild dolphin would behave in a friendly manner towards a human, yet there is much evidence dating back centuries showing that occasionally dolphins do in fact seek out humans in the manner depicted in the movie. There is a scientific term for a dolphin who enters bays and inlets and seeks out human interaction -- "lone sociable dolphin". You can read an interesting summary of these cases at http://www.mmc.gov/reports/ contract/pdf/samuelsreport.pdf -- there are over thirty documented cases. As for a "lone sociable dolphin" possibly posing a threat -- Hawk is clearly worried about that when he forbids Alyssa from seeing the dolphin again. He also makes the point that this behavior is an aberration, not normal, and that a dolphin doing this is "psychologically unstable". He says "it's bad for the dolphins, Alyssa", and eventually "somebody gets hurt" -- which is the other point, and that is that lone sociable dolphins frequently become a local tourist attraction (it recently happened in Ireland, by the way), and sometimes things get out of hand to the detriment of the dolphin. The film depicts another aspect of interaction between humans and wild dolphins when it shows the tour boat captain bringing in tourists, then feeding the dolphins and letting his tourists swim with them. This type of "food provisioning habituation" of dolphins by tour operators is another thing the film, through Hawk, seems to be against. It certainly doesn't seem to be promoting it.(BEWARE POSSIBLE SPOILER FOLLOWS)There's one other point to consider, and this concerns the film's position on dolphin captivity. At the end of the movie the film suggests that instead of captivity, it might be possible for dolphins to be hosted by humans, and interact with them, but not be captive. What is depicted in the film is very close to the "Third Phase Alternative" to dolphin captivity developed by Ken Levasseur. In Levasseur's program, captive dolphins are trained and, over time, allowed to return to the wild and interact with humans on their terms, not the humans. This is depicted in the movie as a solution, and thus the film seems to be taking an enlightened position on captivity issues. You might want to read Levasseur's "Third Phase" paper. It can be viewed online at http://whales7.tripod.com/policies/levasseur/ levass3a.html.

First, for all of you dolphin lovers and anything ocean friendly related:You will love the message that this film delivers. It demonstrates that while people may have an interest in learning more about dolphins and ocean creatures, that interest shouldn't let people forget about dolphins and take them away from their natural habitats and ways. This film says that we can learn about the world around us while preserving its natural beauty and keeping it safe. Second, the movie has a great story with a great set of actors. It it something that will get the whole family to sit together in their living room, take in the movie and have a nice discussion about it afterward. The kids will love the dolphins,the teens can relate to the main star, the parents will like laughing at the dad's first attempts at parenting and everyone will just love the scenes that show what the Bahamas has to offer. I think that a movie that can get my 16 year old brother's attention and keep my dad awake is worth seeing.