Although there have been all kinds of animals put on screen to be lovable, I believe FREE WILLY is the first to use a killer whale. The rest of the story from Wincer and writers Cory Blechman and Keith Walker is pretty standard. Jesse (Jason James Richter) is an orphan living on the streets, hoping his mother will someday show up. One night, he's caught spray-painting graffiti at a Sea World-type park. His social worker Dwight (Mykelti Williamson) gives him two choices; go to reform school, or go live with foster parents and clean the graffiti. Jesse reluctantly chooses the latter, and while Glenn (Michael Madsen) and Annie (Jayne Atkinson) are nice parents, Jesse has no use for them. What he does find use for, however, is the orca whale living in the tank he vandalized.
The orca is named Willy, and like Jesse he comes from troubled circumstances. He was separated from his mother, and since then, he's been a dud as an attraction. Dial (Michael Ironside), the park's owner, and his partner Wade (Richard Riehle), are ready to kill Willy for the insurance money. Even Willy's trainer Rae (Lori Petty) is slowly giving up on him. But a bond develops between Jesse and Willy when Jesse falls into the tank one day and Willy pushes him to safety. After that, Jesse, with the help of Rae and Randolph (August Schellenberg), the manager of the park, is teaching him tricks, and Dial begins to think the kid can help make Willy work. And if he fails, there's always the insurance money.
Again, this is totally predictable stuff. You also know the whale will help bring Jesse closer to his foster parents, especially when things go wrong and they have to...well, the title. And the environmental message, while appealing, is a little too heavy-handed. Still, this is an appealing movie. For starters, while the owner may be a money grubber, it is nice that he's not completely a bad guy (you do get the feeling if Willy had performed well, Dial would have kept him on). Also, the relationships in the movie are pretty well drawn. The two humans who stand out the most here are Jesse and Glenn. Richter, in his first movie, makes Jesse a believable kid, not making him too obnoxious or sweet. And Madsen, taking a break from his usual tough-guy roles, is laid back, making the emotional stuff more convincing. The others are all adequate in their roles, but, of course it's Willy who's the star. Keiko, the real-life whale who plays Willy, does all of the tricks well, and works well with Richter. Again, FREE WILLY won't surprise you, but as far as kid and animal movies go, it's pretty good.
