Hello, We LOVE this movie, there are many things going on. AnnaSophia for this being her 1st movie did an AMAZING Job and considering how her career has gone since then, I see GREAT things for this young actress: that being said I would say she has NOTHING do with what you are going to read about next:but what really angered us was the commentary by jeff daniels. What a self righteous egotistical jerk!!! He talks about how HE provides all the comedic relief and how he had to basically teach AnnaSophia EVERYTHING!!! He doesn't not have that many lines and most of them are telling her what to do or not to do. at one in his commentary with (I think it is either the prouder or director) they made a comment about Gloria's ghost tree and how Opal's doesn't have any thing on it. and jeff say that is because "ANNASHOPIA (NOT OPAL) is Not an alcoholicYET". I live in MI and have met jeff daniels in the small town he is from and where his theatre is and I am grateful to him for try to get movies filmed here in our beautiful state but these comments about ASR just really annoyed me, it is almost like he was jealous that she out did him. one other thing he says "they ALWAYS CAST me to work with Kids because they know I would not be too easy on them." WHAT??? I can think of GREAT movies with out him as the dad, and have even won Oscars.Don't get me wrong I don't hate Jeff Daniels or anything I just feel his comments were WAY out of line especially for being on a children's moviethank you for reading my rambling. Hope you enjoyed the movie as much as we doTammi

This is one of the best family movies I have ever seen. It is fun and totally entertaining, without being silly. It has very funny moments, but the humour is never contrived. The underlying story about dealing with past hurts and building new relationships is one that transcends age limitations. And the film has a very strong moral centre. Those with conservative values should find little to quibble about here. The acting is uniformly good to excellent, even from the newcomer Annasophia Robb. A great movie to watch and enjoy over and over. And the dog (that actually does smile) is amazing! The scene in the grocery store, which apparently took days to shoot, is positively hilarious. Hollywood needs to produce more films of this high moral quality.

It's one of the nice and beautiful movie. I had watched in past some time. Last week I went to local music store. And saw the DVD out there. The cover looked good. Looked like a nice movie. So, thought to buy the DVD. Yes, its indeed a Beautiful, funny and touching movie.The Dog and the little girl performed so well. Awesome performance by little AnnaSophia. She is so cute and lovely. A fun to watch for whole family. The setup is based in a small town, away from the busyness of a big city. Quite calm and beautiful countryside scenes. Its a slow paced, simple movie. Yet full of innocence, fun. A child's love for a adorable sweet dog. Its an enjoy to watch. :-)

One of the primary generic recipes for children's films is the animal movie. I have had the unfortunate experience of watching many of these films, primarily on international flights. Some of the tales of horror that I've seen in the past include: MVP 2: Most Vertical Primate, Air Bud, and Look Who's Talking Now. And on my most recent international flight, I had the "opportunity" to "enjoy" this film. Twice.That gave me plenty of opportunity to consider the film. First of all, I'll have to say that it is on a level better than other children's' animal films I've seen in the past. This is not Beethoven. I can honestly say that this film actually has some real drama in it, in the form of a broken family consisting of a preacher and his daughter (and eventually the titular Winn-Dixie).In fact, the film isn't about the dog, but the relationships that are formed "because" of the dog (hence, the title). And the cast of characters are all mildly endearing. These characters include a sad/lonely librarian, a sad/lonely/blind black woman, a sad/lonely/musical Dave Matthews, and you can guess how the characters go. They form relationships and learn to be less sad and lonely and in process, the movie tries to pull some "aww"'s from you.Tries.Actually, I can't say that I was affected by the film and the ending relies on you having a particular affection for the dog, but ultimately, you're more interested in the characters, so it detracts from the direction of the film. Also, the characters do show some depth, but ultimately the story is still generally a little weak.But in the end, the direction is competent, the acting is passable for a children's film, the animal isn't too annoying and generally the film is pleasant enough for a viewing. When I said that there are better ways than Mulan II to entertain kids, this is one of those ways.That said, the second time I was watching this film, I was wishing that the screen (for the projector) wasn't directly in my face. What's whimsical and cute the first time around becomes a little painful the second time. In the end, it's an okay film. I can't say that about all the other children's' animal films that I've noted. 6/10.P.S. General note: avoid sequels (especially direct-to-video) of children's' films, especially animal films. Think that because I gave a passing rating to Because of Winn-Dixie that I'll do the same for the sequel? You know the answer to that.