Z/Web

I guess the Winn-Dixie grocery story chain is an East coast phenomena, because I’d never heard of it and thus the title and premise of this film turned me off. The story sounded generically sachrine — a girl finds a stray dog at the local Winn-Dixie and he changes her life. Big deal, another dog film. The critics raved, but I wasn’t too excited. But it turns out to be not only a charming family film, but has some surprising depth and reality to it. The dog isn’t magical or anything. In fact, he has minimal personality and a lot of negatives (chews things up, barks and howls all the time, is terrified of thunderstorms). He’s like a real mutt. But the ten-year-old girl, of course, falls in love with him. Her mother left her and she’s alone in the world. Her dad’s kind but distant, and as he’s a preacher they move frequently, and she has no friends. But the dog opens the door to friends as he helps her meet all sorts of people throughout the tiny town and eventually, everyone is won over by the bubbly little girl and her mangy dog. The film isn’t as dark or tragic as others (like the fabulous Bridge to Terabithia, which stars the same amazing young actress) and it occasionally drifts into slapstick territory, but it has its serious moments. Overall it was much better than I expected. It’s not the best film ever made, but it’s fun, interesting, gets an excellent performance from the little girl (she’s going to be a huge star), and has heart without overdoing the schmaltz.