You know being a 22-year-old male and wanting to see a movie about a little girl finding a friend in a dog doesn't quite match up to well. But I'm weird like that and I wanted to see "Because of Winn-Dixie." The trailer looked pretty decent and it's always nice to see Hollywood release a nice family film, which doesn't involve talking animals or is animated. So needless to say I wanted to see "Because of Winn-Dixie" and did so this afternoon.
"Because of Winn-Dixie" is about a father and daughter who move to a small town in Florida to forget there past. The father played by Jeff Daniels is a Preacher. His daughter Opal (AnnaSophia Robb) is trying to find friends. You see Opal's mother walked out on her and her father without any knowledge of them knowing. This is why they move to the new town. So one day, the Preacher tells Opal to go to the Winn-Dixie Supermarket to get some macaroni and cheese. While Opal is at the store, she notices a dog running around like crazy through the store. The manager wants to call the pound to get the dog removed but Opal has different plans. She tells the manager that the dog running around the store is her dog and it's name is Winn-Dixie. Opal and Winn-Dixie become best of friends and together they meet new friends as the film goes along. A very touching and simple movie ensues .
AnnaSophia Robb is just adorable. I mean seriously she was just a joy to watch on the screen. She made everyone else look like an amateur. I hope she gets big because if Dakota Fanning can make it and lets be real that girl is ugly, I think Anna Sophia Robb can make it. What am I saying she has made it, she has this movie under her belt and is in "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" which is going to rock and roll! Moving on, Jeff Daniels does a pretty decent job in the film as well. He plays a very good parent who is having a hard time dealing with life. Jeff Daniels is a good actor and should be in more films. Also in the film is Dave Matthews, which was interesting. Yes, the main singer from the Dave Matthews Band. He was pretty good I would say. His character had some mystery to it. Also Cicely Tyson who played Gloria was a nice touch. She played a very good mysterious old woman who the children were afraid of.
I have not seen many of Wayne Wang's films but I know some of pretty critically acclaimed like "The Joy Luck Club". The only two films of Mr. Wang's that I have seen were "Anywhere But Here" with Natalie Portman and Susan Sarandon, which I did enjoy, and the awful Jennifer Lopez vehicle "Maid in Manhattan." The actual location that the film was shot was pretty nice actually. It had a very classic small town kind of feel to it. I also like how Mr. Wang really caught the emotion of Opal and Winn-Dixie. That was good.
"Because of Winn-Dixie" was based on the novel with the same name. I did not read the book nor would I compare the two since I am sure they would bump heads. However, Joan Singleton transferred the book into a script. The script was pretty good at developing characters and yet still leaving some mystery to the characters. Like I said, I enjoyed the scenes with Opal and Winn-Dixie because I think they showed real emotion and were believable. It's like the old saying man's best friend but in this case Winn-Dixie was Opal's best friend. Characters as I said were pretty well written although some characters were rather pointless and should have been edited out like the cop played by the normally funny Harland Williams but in this film he didn't work out to good. Maybe this was in the book, I don't know but I just feel I could have done without that character.
So what can I say, I liked "Because of Winn-Dixie". It's a very simple and cute film. It's basically about a lonely girl who is looking for a friend and finds it in a dog. It's a very heartfelt film. It's not going to win any awards any time soon or be hailed as great but it is a good little innocent movie. I like to see wholesome movies, and I think it's a shame we don't have many of these anymore. AnnaSophia Robb steals the show with a touching and believable performance. The film is very old-fashioned like a live-action 1970s Disney film. I do recommend it.
MovieManMenzel's Final rating for "Because of Winn-Dixie" is a 7/10. So if you want to take your kids, take your brothers or sisters, or just go by yourself to see a nice, wholesome film, this is a very good choice.
"Because of Winn-Dixie" is about a father and daughter who move to a small town in Florida to forget there past. The father played by Jeff Daniels is a Preacher. His daughter Opal (AnnaSophia Robb) is trying to find friends. You see Opal's mother walked out on her and her father without any knowledge of them knowing. This is why they move to the new town. So one day, the Preacher tells Opal to go to the Winn-Dixie Supermarket to get some macaroni and cheese. While Opal is at the store, she notices a dog running around like crazy through the store. The manager wants to call the pound to get the dog removed but Opal has different plans. She tells the manager that the dog running around the store is her dog and it's name is Winn-Dixie. Opal and Winn-Dixie become best of friends and together they meet new friends as the film goes along. A very touching and simple movie ensues .
AnnaSophia Robb is just adorable. I mean seriously she was just a joy to watch on the screen. She made everyone else look like an amateur. I hope she gets big because if Dakota Fanning can make it and lets be real that girl is ugly, I think Anna Sophia Robb can make it. What am I saying she has made it, she has this movie under her belt and is in "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" which is going to rock and roll! Moving on, Jeff Daniels does a pretty decent job in the film as well. He plays a very good parent who is having a hard time dealing with life. Jeff Daniels is a good actor and should be in more films. Also in the film is Dave Matthews, which was interesting. Yes, the main singer from the Dave Matthews Band. He was pretty good I would say. His character had some mystery to it. Also Cicely Tyson who played Gloria was a nice touch. She played a very good mysterious old woman who the children were afraid of.
I have not seen many of Wayne Wang's films but I know some of pretty critically acclaimed like "The Joy Luck Club". The only two films of Mr. Wang's that I have seen were "Anywhere But Here" with Natalie Portman and Susan Sarandon, which I did enjoy, and the awful Jennifer Lopez vehicle "Maid in Manhattan." The actual location that the film was shot was pretty nice actually. It had a very classic small town kind of feel to it. I also like how Mr. Wang really caught the emotion of Opal and Winn-Dixie. That was good.
"Because of Winn-Dixie" was based on the novel with the same name. I did not read the book nor would I compare the two since I am sure they would bump heads. However, Joan Singleton transferred the book into a script. The script was pretty good at developing characters and yet still leaving some mystery to the characters. Like I said, I enjoyed the scenes with Opal and Winn-Dixie because I think they showed real emotion and were believable. It's like the old saying man's best friend but in this case Winn-Dixie was Opal's best friend. Characters as I said were pretty well written although some characters were rather pointless and should have been edited out like the cop played by the normally funny Harland Williams but in this film he didn't work out to good. Maybe this was in the book, I don't know but I just feel I could have done without that character.
So what can I say, I liked "Because of Winn-Dixie". It's a very simple and cute film. It's basically about a lonely girl who is looking for a friend and finds it in a dog. It's a very heartfelt film. It's not going to win any awards any time soon or be hailed as great but it is a good little innocent movie. I like to see wholesome movies, and I think it's a shame we don't have many of these anymore. AnnaSophia Robb steals the show with a touching and believable performance. The film is very old-fashioned like a live-action 1970s Disney film. I do recommend it.
MovieManMenzel's Final rating for "Because of Winn-Dixie" is a 7/10. So if you want to take your kids, take your brothers or sisters, or just go by yourself to see a nice, wholesome film, this is a very good choice.