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88Most likely chosen for its shaggy-dog looks, Winn-Dixie is actually a great deal more special than you'd expect, a fitting analogy for a film no parent should be too quick to dismiss.
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83To 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.
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Matthews holds his own with his experienced co-stars, and his half- talking/half-singing explanation of his criminal past is the movie's best scene.
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75A sweet, family-friendly retelling of a touching and funny Newbery Award-winning children's book.
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75In pace, sensibility, and big, beating heart, this is a child's first indie film, and it's the better for it.
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75The casting of Daniels, Tyson and Saint, all of whom underplay effortlessly, was shrewd.
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75Should satisfy its 8- to 12-year-old target demographic.
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Both screenwriter Joan Singleton and director Wang take the time to draw real people and feeling relationships.
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70Robb is remarkably assured; there isn't a false note in her performance.
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60A sweet film with no big action moments may be a hard sell to young male audiences, but it's nevertheless a quality story that the whole family can watch together.
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60Uneven though it is, Because of Winn-Dixie, based on Kate Di Camillo's novel, is tough to dislike.
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58It's a methodical, friendly fairy tale in which everyone is good and the outcome is a given.
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50Can't decide what it wants to be when it grows up.
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50Sweet and warm-hearted, but there is another film with a similar story that is boundlessly better, and that is "My Dog Skip" (2000).
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50Bland, amiable, innocuous.
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50Thanks to director Wayne Wang ("The Joy Luck Club"), there are also artistic touches that keep this movie from sticking to the roof of the mouth the way peanut butter does to Opal's pet.
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50Only mildly diverting and way too long for a movie aimed at kids.
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50Veterans Eva Marie Saint and Cicely Tyson make welcome appearances.
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50Jeff Daniels is a compelling-enough actor to lift almost any film out of mediocrity, but even he has his work cut out for him.
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50Some might even find the leisurely pace a nice break from the rapid-fire approach favored by most kids' entertainment.
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The story seems awkwardly positioned between coming-of-age realism and whimsical fantasy.
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50Never quite works as a film. The failure to create appropriate cinematic metaphors reduces it to "happiness is a warm puppy" superficiality.
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A harmless, pleasant comic drama, but elements that may have seemed delightfully eccentric on the page take on unfortunate new tones when translated to film.
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50Limiting the potential overripeness of the material with tact and sincerity, he (Wang) generally makes the most of his resourceful cast; only the dog overacts.
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40It means well, but it's all just a bit too tired a formula - even by the standards of a kids film. Put this one in the top field to 'rest'.
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38Tries hard to be sweet but plays like "Pollyanna" with fleas.
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38The problem is that director Wayne Wang seems deaf to the tonal differences between coming-of-age, magic realism and children's comedy.
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User score distribution:
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Positive: 9 out of 11
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Mixed: 1 out of 11
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Negative: 1 out of 11
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it has a lot of changes that weren't included in the book, but despite that, this movie is absolutely perfect.
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EricW.10
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EdgarG.10Good, wholesome. Read the book as well.