Bernie the Dolphin (G)
IMDb; official website; Rotten Tomatoes
streaming sites: Amazon; Google Play; iTunes; Vudu; YouTube

So, when I was working on my website's calendar for DVD releases in December 2019, I discovered the sequel to this movie. I don't think I'd ever heard of the first movie, but since it was included on Amazon Prime Video, I decided I might as well check it out. And really, it wasn't bad. Not particularly good, of course, but I didn't mind watching it. (Though I can't say how much that may have been because it was late at night and I was drinking while watching it.)

Anyway, there's this 9-year-old girl named Holly Ryan and her 11-year-old brother, Kevin (who wants to be a filmmaker). They live in Florida, and like to kayak out to a secluded spot where they can swim with dolphins, and Kevin can film them. One day, they see a man named Winston Mills talking with the mayor about secret plans to develop the land surrounding the spot where the kids have their little camp set up, and it's not clear what Mills is up to, exactly, but it sounds kind of shady, I guess. When Mills spots the kids eavesdropping, they run away. While out in their kayak again, a motorboat speeds past and intentionally causes a wake that overturns them, but they're saved from drowning by their dolphin friends. When they get home and tell their parents about all this, their father, Bob, is mainly upset that they weren't wearing lifejackets, and grounds them from kayaking for two weeks.

The next day, Bob has a meeting with his boss about a possible promotion to VP at his company, and it's then that we learn his boss is none other than Winston Mills. He wants Bob to try to influence the last holdout landowner in the area Mills has been buying up beachfront property, where he supposedly plans to build a marine park. Meanwhile, the kids convince their mother, Abby, to take them out in her boat to check on the dolphins. When they get there, it turns out one of them- Holly's favorite- isn't with his pod. So they start putting up "missing dolphin" flyers around town, and soon learn that the dolphin has been taken to a local marina. They go there and meet a woman named Sidney Simms, who is taking care of the dolphin, which had been found beached and badly sunburned. Apparently, he'd gotten separated from his pod because of the same guy who overturned the kids' kayak. Anyway, because of the dolphin's sunburn, they decide to name him "Bernie," which personally I think was in poor taste, but whatever.

The rest of the film involves the kids trying to get evidence that Mills is up to no good- it turns out he's actually planning to build a chemical plant, not a marine park- and Mills trying to stop the kids from exposing his plan. And of course, all this puts Bob's job in jeopardy. Needless to say, there is ultimately a happy ending. And... I dunno, I think the whole thing was kind of ridiculous and unrealistic, but I liked the kids, anyway. And their parents. And Sidney. So, like I said, I didn't mind watching it. And I'll probably watch the sequel, if I get the chance to watch it for free, as I did this one.