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By JOE BUTKIEWICZ; Times Leader Staff Writer
Friday, August 19, 1994 Page: 1C
Audiences won’t encounter the reek of red herrings — or any other trickery
— in the straightforward seal cinema “Andre.”
Creamed herring is another matter: This is family entertainment, unabashed
pasteurized and homogenized, the story of a cute girl and her cute seal. And
the only thing wrong with that is even young audiences have seen variations on
the story a half-dozen times before.
“Andre” is a little bit “Flipper,” a little bit “Free Willy,” a little bit
better than “Lassie” but a little bit less then “Black Beauty.”
“Andre” will probably be more popular than the latter of those films
because director George Miller (“The Man From Snowy River”) gives this seal
plenty of attitude. Andre delivers more sneering raspberries then a stadium
full of Yankee fans.
The movie isn’t hurt by several disarming performances, most notably from
Tina Majorino as the 9-year-old-girl that adopts the seal, or the fact that
“Andre” is based on a true story.
The movie is set in 1962 in Rockport, Maine where harbor master Harry
Whitney (Keith Carradine) brings home an orphaned seal pup. His wife and three
children aren’t too surprised — the family is already the roost to a
menagerie that includes a goat, chickens and dog.
Harry and daughter Toni (Majorino) nurse the fading seal to health with a
seal mommy mannequin and discover they’ve brought a new member into their
family.
Andre accompanies Harry to work and Toni to elementary school show and
tell. At home the seal relaxes on the couch to watch “Voyage to the Bottom of
the Sea” and “Rin Tin Tin.”
Based on the book “A Seal Called Andre” and adapted to the screen by Dana
Baratta, “Andre” has the usual complications: celebrity and media attention,
meddling government officials and unsympathetic local lobster fishermen.
Tempers flare, relationships are strained and rifles are fired.
Where Miller and Baratta rise above the routine is the relationship between
Andre and Toni.
The young girl is an outcast at school, ignored by her older brother (Shane
Meier) and resented by her older sister (Aidan Pendleton). A newfound friend
as loyal and unique as Andre makes their friendship extra special. (In both
movie and amazingly, life, Andre wintered in the Boston Aquarium and swam back
to Maine and his family in the spring.)
Majorino, who also appeared in “When a Man Loves a Woman” and is in the
upcoming “Corrina, Corrina,” continues to break hearts without being overly
precocious.
Carradine is suited for the role of an unconventional, slightly bohemian —
father. Casting a well-trained harbor seal wasn’t as easy so the filmmakers
turned to a sea lion. Actually two sea lions.
Sea mammal