Cozy and homespun, Because of Winn-Dixie is the movie equivalent of a grilled cheese sandwich or Patsy Cline's voice.
Because of Winn-Dixie (2005)
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:115
Fresh:62
Rotten:53
Average Rating:5.8/10
Consensus: An old-fashioned, if bland, adaptation of Kate DiCamillo's novel.
Runtime: 1 hr 46 mins
Genre: Childrens
Synopsis: Based on the perennial best seller, BECAUSE OF WINN-DIXIE tells the story of a lonely young girl who adopts an orphaned dog she names Winn-Dixie (for the supermarket where she found him). The bond... Based on the perennial best seller, BECAUSE OF WINN-DIXIE tells the story of a lonely young girl who adopts an orphaned dog she names Winn-Dixie (for the supermarket where she found him). The bond between the girl and her special companion brings together the people in a small Florida town and heals her own troubled relationship with her father. Twentieth Century Fox and Walden Media present BECAUSE OF WINN-DIXIE a Wayne Wang Film adapted from the popular and much-honored novel of the same name by Kate DiCamillo. Among the book’s awards is the coveted Newbery Honor. Wang directs from a screenplay by Joan Singleton. The Producers are Trevor Albert and Joan Singleton, and the Executive Producer is Ralph Singleton. The village of Napoleonville, Louisiana stands in for the story’s fictional Naomi, Florida. Sleepy Naomi is a place where people have forgotten how to share their sadness and their joy. But Opal and Winn-Dixie might have something to say about that. Jeff Daniels, Cicely Tyson, Dave Matthews and Eva Marie Saint star as the somewhat eccentric adults who benefit from Opal and Winn-Dixie’s bumpy summer of discovery. Newcomer AnnaSophia Robb won the role of Opal following an intensive talent hunt. "Opal and Winn-Dixie have something in common," says AnnaSophia. "She doesn’t have a mother and he doesn’t have a home. They both want somebody to love and somebody to love them. And, as a team, they begin to realize that other people just might want the same things." Winn-Dixie guides Opal into places where magic dozes under a coat of dusty disappointment and awakens the people hiding there. Things begin to change day by day under the summer sun – in a funky pet store, a musty library, a drab mobile home, a ramshackle house and a convenience store-turned temple of worship. --© 20th Century Fox [More]
Starring: Jeff Daniels, AnnaSophia Robb, Dave Matthews, Cicely Tyson
Starring: Jeff Daniels, AnnaSophia Robb, Dave Matthews, Cicely Tyson, Eva Marie Saint, Elle Fanning, Courtney Jines
Director: Wayne Wang
Director: Wayne Wang
Screenwriter: John Singleton
Producer: Trevor Albert, Joan Singleton
Composer: Rachel Portman
Studio: 20th Century Fox
Reviews for Because of Winn-Dixie
A lopsided but fitfully pleasant daydream for young girls looking to discover their inner hostess: a dog-slobbered Martha Stewart: The Early Years.
A touching story about a young girl and her dog, Because of Winn-Dixie is quintessentially cute.
Though [Jeff] Daniels brings his usual quiet nuance and understated comedy to the role of the grieving preacher, there’s no redeeming this slavishly folksy betrayal of what can be dimly discerned of an absorbing and original tale of pain overcome.
Wayne Wang's Because of Winn-Dixie tries hard to be sweet but plays like Pollyanna with fleas.
It's refreshingly free of the overadrenalized overkill and/or saccharine manipulations of so many kid movies.
Quite a bit better than the dog-movie cliches the trailer suggests Like Miss Franny's semi-magical candies, it is both sweet and sad, a blend that does the heart good.
The new My Girl-meets-Turner & Hooch-meets-My Dog Skip film from the formerly formidable but recently forgettable director Wayne Wang.
Wang...is aiming for quirkiness here, but he never gets beyond cloying.
The artificial, manufactured feel of “Because of Winn Dixie” kept me at arm’s length
...too aggressively cute and sappy, relying on close-ups and standard slapstick montages instead of establishing a genuine emotional connection with the audience.
It's makers would like it to become an instant classic of the genre, but at best it's an amiable but mediocre formula flick more suitable for the home screen than a theatre.
To Winn-Dixie's great credit, both as a book and as a dandy, dignified movie, there's nothing condescendingly lesson-like in the wisdom India acquires.
A sometimes sweet film, it produces a high fidget factor due to its excessive length and thin plot.
Despite director Wayne Wang's flair for vehicles about characters seeking to fill a void in their lives, he never achieves the right balance here.
The story seems awkwardly positioned between coming-of-age realism and whimsical fantasy.
A story that can’t help but touch your heartstrings. The dog is cute and loveable, but 9 year old Opal's ingenuous personality brightens all the lonely people. I loved it.
It’s like one half of a Willa Cather novel: The moral backbone is there but its social spine has been ripped out.
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