The Whale (2011) Reviews

Michael Parfit and Suzanne Chisholm revisit the captivating subject of their 2007 documentary Saving Luna -- which told the story of a baby orca named Luna who befriended humans after being separated from his family -- in this re-edit/expansion narrated by Ryan Reynolds. Left alone in the vast ocean, Luna became a local celebrity on Vancouver Island when he began befriending humans near Nootka Sound. But while some locals -- such as a cook, a fisheries officer, and a local grandmother -- became something of a surrogate family for Luna, others argued that human contact could do irreparable damage to the orca. Meanwhile, filmmakers Parfit and Chisholm gradually begin to transcend their roles as documentarians upon deciding to play an active role in helping decide Luna's fate, rather than just covering the story for Smithsonian as they originally set out to do. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi