randymoon
I know we always expect the book to be better. But the movie made some changes and additions that were unnecessary. For example, the movie includes a gag scene in which the policeman, played by Harland Williams, for no apparent reason, interrupts Opal and her friends playing baseball. Winn-Dixie attacks the policeman who is unable to get back in his cruiser without having his pants pulled down and his bright red boxers exposed to public view. There is no such scene in the book. It's played for slapstick but isn't in the least funny. Worse than that, however, is that it completely contradicts what we've seen from Winn-Dixie up to that point: a gentle, friendly dog without a trace of viciousness (expect for hunting mice!). Opal's grinning and laughing at the chaos in the grocery story at the beginning is not in the book, and in the movie seems forced and unrealistic. And the manager who is afraid of dogs gives one of the worst acting performances I've seen in the movies in a long, long time. I understand he's a local and has never acted before. Well, it shows.Director Wang seemed to be in a hurry to get through the story as quickly as possible. leaving no time for the character development we find in the book. Otis, miscast as Dave Matthews, doesn't come across as shy and awkward as he needs to be. Instead he merely comes across as rude. We don't get much of a sense of the conflict between Opal and the Dewberry boys so that when the one boy begins making friendly overtures to Opal, it just seems confusing. Much of the behavior of all the characters comes across as unmotivated and superficial, what you might expect from a director who was in too much of a hurry to worry about realistic acting.The movie is fine, I guess, for a five-year-old viewer, but it could have been so much better from a more skilled director.
gregeichelberger
(Originally published on Feb. 17, 2005) Okay, it's silly, dopey and sickeningly sweet, but there is something irresistible about this new 20th Century-Fox kids' flick, "Because of Winn-Dixie," starring Jeff Daniels ("Terms of Endearment," "Aranchnophobia") as a sullen preacher raising his flaxen-haired, big-eyed daughter, India Opal (Annasophia Robb), in the backwater town of Naomi, Fla.Populated by old buildings, rusted automobiles and run-down trailer parks, as well as surly citizens (but no friends Opal's age), Naomi (Australia filling in here for the Sunshine State) is not a bright spot in this girl's life, who's own mother left several years before.Her father, morose and distant, is no help, either, as he cannot even seem to care for himself, let alone her or his dwindling congregation.Then, one day, while picking up macaroni and cheese at the local Winn-Dixie grocery outlet, Opal rescues a wild dog that has already trashed the place. This is the first of several scenes in which the big, ugly mongrel (a Picardie Shepherd, which resembles a cross between a werewolf and a llama with a really creepy "smile") runs amok and wrecks things (Opal's trailer, a pet shop, a church, etc.).It gets to be old after a while, and soon I - an ardent dog lover - was even questioning my own fondness for the species. Despite this, Opal takes the flea-bitten mutt home and tries to convince dad to let her keep it.At first, like anyone in their right mind, he says no, but we all know he will have a change of heart, and, tossing common sense out the window, he caves in like a cheap card table. Meanwhile, in an effort to purchase the dog a collar, the girl takes a job sweeping floors and picking up trash at the local pet shop run by none other than musician Dave Mathews, who plays ex-con Otis (he served time, no doubt, because of his incoherent singing/mumbling).Little Opal can be annoying and whiny herself, but she has a good heart, really cares for the pup, seeks knowledge about her missing mom and really wants to get close to her father. Daniels plays the humiliated reverend - forced to accept free rent and preach to his tiny flock gathered in a former convenience store - very well. It was the same role that Walter Huston excelled in 1938's "Of Human Hearts." The young lady begins to spend a little too much time with the dog, however, constantly talking to it while actually believing that it understands her. later, Opal meets lonely librarian, Miss Franny (Eva Marie Saint, Academy Award winner for "On the Waterfront"), and local eccentric, Gloria Dump (Cicely Tyson, Emmy Award winner for "The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pitman"), as well as others closer to her age.There's Amanda Wilkinson (Courtney Jines), "Sweetie Pie" Thomas (Ella Fanning, Dakota's little sis) and the irritating Dewberry Brothers (Nick Price and Luke Benward). Add to this mix the arrogant, bumbling sheriff (Harland Williams, "There's Something About Mary") and crotchety trailer park owner, Alfred (B.J. Hooper), and blend in a happy ending, and you have a decent family movie.It's uneven and downright ridiculous at times, but for some strange reason, it's difficult not to like - somehow.
Morticon
I went with some friends to see this (mostly because there was nothing else to see), and they all seemed to like it. I'm afraid I've missed something. I just thought it was ridiculous, I almost wanted to think of it as one of those unbearable stereotypical animal movies like The Amazing Panda Adventure or Mom, Can I Keep Her? Fortunately, it wasn't AS bad (if anything could go as far).The storyline is probably the most pointless. Who could write a book about this and be fueled to continue? If someone wrote a book about how a lonely turtle befriends a coco puff and they embark on a quest to roam the turtle's tank, I'd probably be reminded of this. Foremost, I think there are PLENTY of dog lover stories clogging the drain that is Hollywood, don't you think? Sorry, Winn-Dixie fans. That's how it goes. If you haven't seen this, don't bother. Life is too short. Watch something worth your while.
