A dolphin named Winter loses its tail to a crab trap in Dolphin Tale — (sometimes sickly) sweet family film based on a true story. It's no spoiler to say that there is a happy ending, partly because this is the kind of constantly uplifting heart-warmer in which even the villains are congenial, but also because the injured animal is played by its real-life counterpart. Morgan Freeman also plays a version of himself as a kindly wise man whose expertise in prosthetics helps save Winter. While the plot occasionally feels like Free Willy without the drama, it's a cute story if you don't mind temporarily trading in your cynicism for a bag of popcorn. B-
