Ashley Judd plays the role of single mother in new film 'Dolphin Tale'

American television and film actress and active humanitarian Ashley Judd stars as a single mother in the new film Dolphin Tale. This "De-Lovely," "HIgh Crimes," "Helen" and Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood actress Judd's character Lorraine Nelson "couldn't be nicer" but her son "Sawyer is failing in school, has no friends and spends every second he can toying with stuff in his dad's abandoned workshop," writes THR 's Todd McCarthy. The boy's dad left the family, and his son mopes around in a funk until a wounded dolphin gives him purpose.

As for Judd, 43, she and co-stars Harry Connick Jr., Morgan Freeman and Kris Kristofferen "all have been in better things, and should be again, but they’re certainly pleasant additions to the goings-on here," writes  the New Jersey Star-Ledger. The cast is singled out  by the Los Angeles Times for acting that "has a nice, low-pressure vibe, in contrast to the film's high-pressure peril." Likewise, Big Hollywood notes  that the supporting cast "are genuine, though not likely to win any awards like Sandra Bullock from Alcon Entertainment’s hit The Blind Side." (Dolphin Tale is also from Alcon Entertainment).

Roger Ebert predicts  that the characters of Sawyer's mom and Hazel's dad (played by Judd and Connick), "both heading single-parent families, seem destined for romance, but perhaps that's being reserved for the inevitable sequel." He adds that director Charles Martin Smith, guides the "good cast with a firm hand." Judd and Connick previously worked together in the 2006 psychodrama "Bug".

Besides Dolphin Tale, Judd's other 2011 projects include Flypaper in the role of Kaitlin, with Patrick Dempsey and The Help's Octavia Spencer and the TV movie Missing, with Sean Bean and Keith Carradine. She is also working for humanitarian and political causes and his causes include two missions to the Democratic Republic of Congo to campaign against sexual violence against women. This is of course a praiseworthy and gives her lots of experiences in her career.

Ashley Judd and her Co stars in "Dolphin Tale"