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This family-oriented film from Michael Sellers has its heart in the right place — and its cameras in a lovely bit of the Bahamas — but a poorly developed story and clunky acting does it no favors. Teen troublemaker Alyssa (Carly Schroeder) decamps to the islands to meet the father she never knew she had. Hawk (Adrian Dunbar) runs a low-budget dolphin research center (he has just two dolphins). Subplots involving absent mothers, a wild dolphin, the island’s tourist trade and conch-eating all wrap up in a deeply unbelievable conclusion that re-affirms all that is good and pure and true and dolphin. It’s affirming only in an amateurish connect-the-dots sort of way. Only one dot goes astray — a mysterious island boy who we see spying on Alyssa repeatedly, but whose presence is never explained. Starts Fri., Aug. 24. Loews 
This article appears in Aug 23-29, 2007.
I was fortunate enough to see an early screening of this film and really enjoyed it. At one time in my life I was also a 14 year old girl, and I could really connect with Carly’s character, Alyssa. She has many ups and downs, but in the end she really turns herself around. It was a very spiritually driven movie, with a great message. Go see it this weekend with your kids, I think you’ll enjoy it.
Has anyone seen Keanu Reeves’ acting? The acting in this movie is way better than anything he’s ever been in. I had a chance to see this movie at a film festival and I thought that for an indie film it was made pretty well. I love that this film had a story about a lost teen finding her way and making a contribution to the world she lives in. We need more inspiring stories like this. Yes there is stuff like substance abuse and sexual references in the very beginning but the film is pretty much very tame after that We must acknowledge that this is a coming of age story and that that type of thing is common in order for someone to make a big change or realization. There is probably more stuff like that on TV or the news anyway (Lindsay Lohan, Paris Hilton and Nicole Ritchie do not escape the news). My final observation: though cheesy sometimes, doesn’t cheesy make you feel good and comfortable? Can’t say that it’s bad because I genuinely enjoyed it.
The story of this film is not as developed as say Castaway but in the opinion of this humble reviewer, need not be. The script is based off of a classic problem of adolescence. The story has been told countless times and it is tried-and-true, precisely why it works in this film. We know how the film will end but that’s okay because the trip there is so enjoyable. The film manages to deal with some serious issues with a matter of lightness.
If you have an hour and a half, The Eye of the Dolphin is not a half-bad way of spending your time.