|
|
| A
Jesus-type dog
guides a young girl into places where faith 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 Church. |
(2005) Film Review |
| This
page was created on February 16, 2005
This page was last updated on
March 3, 2005
—Overview
—Trailers, Photos
—About this Film pdf
—Spiritual Connections
Dial up modems will take a few moments |
| CREDITS |
| Directed
by Wayne Wang
Novel by Kate DiCamillo
Screenplay by Joan Singleton
Cast (in credits order)
Annasophia Robb .... Opal
Jeff Daniels .... Preacher
Cicely Tyson .... Gloria
Dave Matthews .... Otis
Eva Marie Saint .... Miss Franny
Courtney Jines .... Amanda Wilkinson
Nick Price .... Dunlap Dewberry
Luke Benward .... Stevie Dewberry
Elle Fanning .... Sweetie Pie Thomas
Marca Price .... Mrs. Dewberry
Lenore Banks .... Mrs. Detweller
B.J. Hopper .... Mr. Alfred
Produced by
Trevor Albert .... producer
Becki Cross Trujillo .... co-producer
Joan Singleton .... producer (as Joan V. Singleton)
Ralph S. Singleton .... executive producer
Original Music by Rachel Portman
Cinematography by Karl Walter Lindenlaub
Film Editing by Deirdre Slevin
MPAA: Rated
PG for thematic elements and brief mild language.
For rating reasons, go to FILMRATINGS.COM,
and MPAA.ORG.
Parents, please refer to PARENTALGUIDE.ORG
|
| TRAILERS AND CLIPS |
| —Trailers,
Photos |
| CD |
Because
of Winn-Dixie
Various
Artists - Soundtrack - 2005
1. Opal's Blues - The Be Good Tanyas
2. I've Gotta See You Smile - Leigh Nash
3. Someday Somehow - The Beu Sisters
4. Sunflower - Alice Peacock
5. Splish Splash - Adam Schlesinger and James Iha
6. The Clapping Song - Shirley Ellis
7. Won't Give In - The Finn Brothers
8. Cabaret - Emmylou Harris
9. Fly - Shawn Colvin
10. Glory Glory - Patrinell Wright & Gloria Smith
11. Tree of Wrongs (score) - Rachel Portman
12. Opal's Theme (score) - Rachel Portman
13. Ten Things (score) - Rachel Portman
v
 |
| BOOK |
Because
of Winn-Dixie
by Kate
Dicamillo
Because of Winn-Dixie, a big, ugly, happy dog, 10-year-old Opal learns
10 things about her long-gone mother from her preacher father. Because
of Winn-Dixie, Opal makes new friends among the somewhat unusual
residents of her new hometown, Naomi, Florida. Because of Winn-Dixie,
Opal begins to find her place in the world and let go of some of
the sadness left by her mother's abandonment seven years earlier.
With
her newly adopted, goofy pooch at her side, Opal explores her
bittersweet world and learns to listen to other people's lives.
This warm and winning book hosts an unforgettable cast of characters,
including a librarian who fought off a bear with a copy of War
and Peace, an ex-con pet-store clerk who plays sweet music to
his animal charges, and the neighborhood "witch," a
nearly blind woman who sees with her heart. Part Frankie (The
Member of the Wedding), part Scout (To Kill a Mockingbird), Opal
brings her own unique and wonderful voice to a story of friendship,
loneliness, and acceptance. Opal's down-home charm and dead-on
honesty will earn her friends and fans far beyond the confines
of Naomi, Florida. (Ages 9 and older) --Emilie Coulter--This
text refers to the Hardcover edition.
|
| POSTER |
|
| AVAILABILITY ON VIDEO AND DVD |
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|
| 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 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.
Because Of Winn-Dixie, published by Candlewick Press, was Kate DiCamillo’s
first book. It was a New York Times bestseller and recipient of the prestigious
Newbery Honor in 2001. It was awarded a Bulletin of the Center for Children’s
Books Blue Ribbon, placed on the New York Public Library 100 Books for Reading
and Sharing list, was a Parents’ Choice Gold Award Winner, a Publishers
Weekly Best Book Of The Year and a School Library Journal Best Book Of The Year.
The author’s subsequent books are The Tiger Rising, a National Book Award
finalist, and The Tale Of Desperaux, which earned the 2004 Newbery Medal. |
Review: Because of Winn-Dixie
THE
AMAZING JESUS-DOG
by David Bruce,
Web Master HollywoodJesus.com |
 A
STRANGER IN OUR MIDST
Winn-Dixie the dog appears
out of nowhere. He presents the way God works: through the unexpected and ordinary events in life.
|
 THE
BAPTISM
Before Winn-Dixie
begins his work of redeeming alienated people, he must go through the ritual of bathing (symbolic of baptism).
|
 THE
BIRD OVER THE HEAD
One of the mystical signs of being a person who represents the
presence of God is a hovering bird over the head.
Winn-Dixie has such an experience in the pet store. |
|
 IT
IS ALL ABOUT THE OUTSIDER
The dog, Opal (the girl with a different beat), Otis (shown here
singing to the animals), Gloria (the
African
American misfit)
are all outsiders. They are the strangers in our midst. They represent
the very ones through whom God works to bring dramatic change.
History is filled with
such out-of-the-box, John the Baptist types. |
 UPSETTING
THE CHURCH
Just as Jesus unset the "church" of
his day, so Winn-Dixie unsets the small community church. God
knows the church of today could use some shaking up.
|
 THE
LAST SUPPER, DEATH
AND RESURRECTION
Winn-Dixie is afraid
of thunder and lightning. On the night of the special dinner party, the sky turns stormy, thunder strikes,
and Winn-Dixie is suddenly gone (a sort of death). There are several
parallels to the last supper and crucifixion here. Notice the
use of an angel in this scene. The "Resurrection" happens the next
morning when Winn-Dixie reappears.
|
 LOVING
UNITY: THE BOTTOM LINE
The events of the dinner party and the disappearance of Winn-Dixie bring about
the unity of all sorts of people. Former enemies find themselves friends, as
they give thanks to God hand in hand.
|
 IT'S
ALL ABOUT LOVING OTHERS
Interestingly, in the film, the word "Love" appears above the cross
of Jesus in the little community church. Winn-Dixie is a "Christ-figure"
who brings faith, hope and love to the community. |
 RELATIONSHIPS
HEALED (and not)
The story ends with some relationships healed, like between the preacher
and his daughter, and some unresolved, as with Opal's mother. I really
appreciated this ending. As in real life, not all things can be resolved.
But, it is all part of the life journey of faith. —Continue
here |
| Continue: |
|
| Private
Spiritual Concerns |
| I
will not post these comments. I
welcome your spiritual concerns and prayer needs. I will correspond
with you, usually within two weeks.
Email David Bruce
|
OFFICIAL SITE
Publicity information and images © 2005
20TH Century Fox and Walden Media. All Rights Reserved.
No other uses are permitted without the prior written consent of owner. Use of the material in violation of the foregoing may result in civil and/or criminal penalties. Credits and dates are subject to change. For more information, please visit their official site.
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