In a particularly schmaltzy moment near the end of Dolphin Tale, super vet Dr Clay (Harry Connick Jr.) smiles a cheesy grin and whispers to principal characters Sawyer and Hazel, “You didn’t quit on Winter and therefore you didn’t quit on yourselves.”  This is just one of many moments in Dolphin Tale that is reaching for heart-warming and inspirational, but  which falls staggeringly short. It is also the moment when the audience are likely to realise that not only have they “quit” caring about Winter the dolphin, but they have also given up on the whole film itself.

Dolphin Tale tells the true life story of Winter, a dolphin who loses her tail after being wounded by a fishing net. Troubled kid Sawyer develops a special bond with Winter and devotes himself to nursing her back to health in the local cash-strapped marine hospital. In a desperate attempt  to save her, he enlists wacky Dr McCarthy (Morgan Freeman), a prosthetics expert who is hoping to help Winter by creating the very first prosthetic dolphin tail.

Films based on so-called inspirational real life events always run the risk of being cheesy and over sentimental and Dolphin Tale falls right into this trap. The script is dreadful and full of clichéd lines about the power of love that are intended to warm our hearts, but really just turn our stomachs. In addition to this, almost every performance in the film is a master class in  melodramatic acting. The exception to this is Morgan Freeman, who in his relatively small role manages to be a warm and witty presence in an otherwise nauseating cast.

Perhaps Dolphin Tale would have worked as a TV movie or a documentary, but it certainly struggles as a feature film. Clocking in at just under two hours, the movie feels very slow and laborious by the end of it. Even the biggest fan of dolphins will probably be left feeling that they don’t want to see another dolphin again for a very long time.