Free Willy (1993)

Directed by Simon Wincer. Starring Jason James Richter, Lori Petty, August Schellenberg, Jayne Atkinson, Michael Madsen, Michael Ironside, Richard Riehle, Mykelti Williamson, Michael Bacall, Danielle Harris. [PG]

Delinquent foster kid Richter vandalizes a marine theme park, and as part of his probation, he is ordered to clean up the graffiti, which leads to him befriending a recalcitrant orca named Willy. Decent formula family film that’s too hokey and clichéd to ever become touching, but it has its moments. The whale’s a beaut, and Richter ain’t half bad as far as child performances go, either. The plot needed an antagonist (and who better to hire for that than Ironside?), but the filmmakers go overboard in its implementation, as if they were nervous that audiences wouldn’t be on board with the heroes trying to release the poor creature on principle alone—Willy’s killer whale family is even heard in the ocean crying out for their missing boy, for goodness sake! Its considerable box office success resulted in three sequels and a short-lived television series.

56/100