By Dave Montalbano
http://cinemadave.livejournal. Com
It was with a sense of melancholia that I went to go see Dolphin Tale 2. When the box office results were announced, that sense of melancholia returned. In between bouts of melancholia, I kept thinking about what a life-affirming movie Dolphin Tale 2 is. I had to visit the website www.seewinter.com because I wanted to learn more about the main characters.
It is based on a true story set on the Florida West Coast. In terms of story and character development, this film is an improvement over the original Dolphin Tale. It is far less gimmicky. Writer/ Director Charlie Martin Smith has crafted an entertaining story with truthful emotional transitions from grief to personal triumph for dolphin, bird, sea turtle and humans seeking salvation.
It is business as usual at the Clearwater Marine Aquarium. Boss Dr. Clay Haskett (Harry Connick Jr.) retains the mission statement of “Rescue, Rehab, Release.” With Winter (the amputee dolphin heroine from the first movie) being utilized as a major tourist attraction, Dr. Clay employs his daughter, Hazel (Cozi Zuehlsdorff) and Sawyer (Nathan Gamble) as capable research assistants.
Being a social creature, Winter suffers from grief when her “roommate” dies. Marine Biologists agree that Winter needs the social interaction to survive. When college recruiters witness Sawyer’s attention to Winter’s medical needs, they award the Marine Biologist prodigy a full scholarship. As these two dramas play themselves out, one realizes that Dolphin Tale 2 is a universal drama about an individual’s rite of passage. Parents – this is a GOOD family film. It is better than what current box office totals have revealed.
My Old Lady opens tomorrow. With a title like that, one expects a follow-up joke from the old television sitcom Married with Children. Yet with Kevin Kline, Kristin Scott Thomas and Maggie Smith, there is a level of sophistication with nuanced humor.
Mathias Gold (Kline) returns to Paris to settle the estate of his late father. Upon arrival, Mathias learns that Mathilde (Smith) and her daughter Chloe (Thomas Scott) have retained a form of French squatter’s rights on the property. As boundary lines form between the man and the women, Mathias uncovers an inconsistent behavior pattern of his dearly departed Dad.
Based on his play, writer/ director Israel Horovitz does not landlock the camera and keeps the action moving on the big screen. When dramatically appropriate, Horovitz uses static shots to enhance the drama. With pros like Kline, Scott Thomas and Smith, My Old Lady becomes a special motion picture.
