Movie Review: Because of Winn Dixie

Written by Mike and Paula Parker

If you haven't read Kate DiCamillo's award-winning, bestselling children's book, Because of Winn Dixie, don't let the trailers from the new movie by Twentieth Century Fox and Walden Media fool you. This is not a comedy.
 

Oh, there are elements of comedy in the film, but it is tinged by sadness. There is love, but it is balanced by loneliness. There is loss, but there is also hope. In other words, this is a true-to-life story, starring Jeff Daniels, Cicely Tyson, Dave Matthews, Eva Marie Saint, and newcomer AnnaSophia Robb.
 
Because of Winn Dixie tells the story of a lonely young girl, Opal (Robb), who moves to Naomi, Florida when her preacher father (Daniels) gets a new church. Adjusting to a new place is hard for Opal, and she prays that the Lord will send her a friend. Little did she realize her prayer would be answered in the form of an orphaned dog that she names Winn Dixie, for the supermarket where she finds him. Over the course of the summer, Opal and Winn Dixie meet some of the people living in Naomi, each of whom has an interesting story themselves.
 
For those of you who have read the book, you will be happy to know that the film closely follows the story, and it is wonderfully done. Director Wayne Wang has woven a beautiful tapestry which reminds us that everyone's life is painfully defined by tragedy. (Even the Lord was described as "a man of sorrows.") Yet rather than hide our pains, Ms. DiCamillo's story reminds us that it's only by sharing our sadness that we can find healing and hope. 
 
Because of Winn Dixie is rated PG for thematic elements and brief mild language.

Mike and Paula Parker cover media and culture for LifeWay.com from their home in Murfreesboro, Tennessee. Visit them online at www.wordcrafts.net.

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