Eye of the Dolphin

Many family films suffer from an overabundance of sentimental sap, but this delightful drama about a father and a daughter finding one another avoids being mawkish while remaining genuinely sweet. The signs don't look good at the outset: 14-year-old Alyssa (Carly Schroeder) is “troubled” (we know this because she wears too much dark eye makeup and scowls behind her iPod), but she blossoms as the story takes her from the stifling Southern California suburbs to the Bahamas research facility where her dad, Dr. James Hawk (Adrian Dunbar)—who didn't know he had a daughter—is trying to talk to dolphins. Yes, the potential for goop rises exponentially with the introduction of cute performing animals, but the rocky road to happiness for this new little family actually blends very nicely with a subplot involving raising environmental awareness in the small beach town fixated on tourist dollars. Winner of a Best Drama award at the 2007 International Family Film Festival, filmmaker Michael D. Sellers' Eye of the Dolphin is recommended. [Note: DVD extras include a “making-of” featurette, text actor bios, computer wallpaper, and a trailer. Bottom line: a small but solid extras package for a fine family film.] [Note: DVD extras include a 21-minute “Carly's Excellent Dolphin Adventure” behind-the-scenes featurette with star Carly Schroeder, “The Dolphins of UNEXSO” featurette on the Underwater Explorers Society (7 min.), text actor bios, DVD-ROM features such as downloadable wallpapers, and trailers. Bottom line: a fine extras package for a fine family film.] (M. Johanson)