Flipper (Elijah Wood)

(Amazon UK link)

It’s over twenty years since we watched the family film ‘Flipper’ about a teenage boy and his special relationship to a dolphin. I didn’t remember much about it, other than that it was a somewhat bittersweet ending with some tension along the way.

I had quite forgotten that the show stars Elijah Wood as fifteen-year-old Sandy, well before he became a household name as Frodo in the Lord of the Rings series. He was apparently prolific as a child actor, and plays the part of the somewhat fed-up Sandy very competently.

Sandy’s parents, we quickly learn, are separating, and they have sent Sandy to stay with his uncle, Porter (Paul Hogan), for the summer. Porter lives in a ramshackle building on the coast of Florida, and mostly lives on canned food, which he acquires in bulk from various ships. He doesn’t much want someone around, and Sandy doesn’t want to be there, but when Sandy tries to run away Porter follows him and brings him back.

There are bad guys in the film, owners of cruise ships and fishing vessels who don’t like dolphins playing near the shore, and there are some unpleasant scenes when dolphins are being shot at. Then one of them starts playing near Sandy, and attracts his attention. The two seem to develop a bond, but it’s no good: others complain, and they have to take Flipper out to sea, far away from shore.

There’s a minor love interest for Sandy, in the form of a girl called Kim (Jessica Wesson), which is nicely done in a family-friendly way with friendship and a shared interest in Flipper rather than anything more. And there’s a younger child who is shy and brilliant, perhaps autistic, called Marvin (Jason Fuchs), whom I thought was excellent. His mother Cathy (Chelsea Field) is more than a bit interested in Porter…

When I first saw this film a couple of decades ago, I liked it very much. This time, I found it rather slow-moving, and nearly fell asleep at some of the lengthy swimming/playing sequences. The film was made in 1996 so it’s not surprising that it feels dated, and on the whole I like slightly slower films rather than fast action. The dialogue and the tension is well done, and I did mostly find it interesting to watch. But I wasn’t as captivated as I was before, and don’t at all mind if it’s another twenty years before I see it again.

The rating is PG, which reflects the tension and violence, even though there’s nothing too explicit and no direct gore. I hid my eyes at some of the scenes involving fish, and also some quite scary scenes with a dangerous shark. There’s only mild bad language and no nudity or anything sexual, other than one brief scene of Sandy reading a dodgy magazine. And there’s a whole underlying theme involving toxic waste, which would go right over the heads of most children.

But for a family film with a difference, I’d recommend this to children who like ocean life and dolphins in particular, so long as they aren’t too disturbed by the early scene involving shooting and the result; something that was not uncommon in children’s films, though particularly animated ones, last century. As with other PG films, it's probably best for young children to watch with a parent or other close adult. 

Review copyright 2026 Sue's DVD Reviews