"Winn-Dixie" Cup Half Empty

Dear Dog Lady,

I took my 10-year-old daughter to see the new movie, “Because Of Winn-Dixie.” What a waste. We were both bored. How could a dog flick be so bad? None of it seemed to make sense. Have you seen it? What did you think?

Jon, Los Angeles, CA

Jon, seems your “Dixie” cup is half-empty. Dog Lady agrees with your critique of “Because Of Winn-Dixie.” I eagerly went to see the film and wound up giggling three-quarters of the way through because Mr. Dog Lady couldn’t stop cracking jokes about the bad plot, awkward characters, and holes in the story big enough to house five full-grown Newfies.

It's no coincidence the dog (a rare French breed called Picardy Shepherd) is named after a now-bankrupt supermarket chain. And the lead pooch is so badly behaved. Sure, the dog is cute and all, but why have sequences in which the rampaging rogue wrecks a grocery produce section, leaps on top of the store manager causing the guy to whimper like a baby, knocks over a punch bowl, runs after a mouse in church, destroys the house a couple of times, jumps up on people and just generally tears up the scenery?

This dog movie manages the impossible: It forces the audience not to care a twig about the dog. So sad because Dog Lady loves to blubber in Fido flicks. Even the humans are helpless in the losing "Winn." The little girl (actress AnnaSophia Robb) is adorable but woefully wooden. Actors Jeff Daniels, Cicely Tyson and Eva Marie Saint try to pull something out of nothing. Singer Dave Matthews, making his film debut, is great when he strums the guitar and soothes the animals in his pet store. But why is his funky pet emporium called Gertrude’s? What happened to Gertrude? Is it legal to sell goats, donkeys and ducks out of a storefront?

Rather than continuing to whine about “Winn,” allow Dog Lady to recommend her favorite sappy canine escapade -- “My Dog Skip.” The movie, which played in theaters in 2000, has a similar theme of a dog bringing a rich life to a solitary child (actor Frankie Muniz before he started driving). “Skip,” however, is done with delicate sentiment and grace. And the film presents an involving story, not a bunch of disjointed scenes. You should rent it for your daughter and watch with her. Savor “My Dog Skip” as a tender heart-tugging tale that wags the dog.

Follow-up: Since writing this review of the film "Because of Winn-Dixie," Dog Lady has been chided for not tipping her hat to Kate DiCamillo's graceful book that inspired the clumsy movie. Seems "Because of Winn-Dixie" is beloved by children and adults as Anne in Arlington points out: "Dog Lady should read the book that was the source of 'Because of Winn-Dixie' for the answers to her questions. Gertrude is the bird and she was named for the owner of the shop, for instance. It was voted the Bluebonnet Award winner by the children of Texas a couple of years ago and still a very popular book."
Thanks to Anne of Arlington. Dog Lady intends to pick up "Because of Winn-Dixie" as soon as she gets the Dostoyevsky off her bed table.

Posted by Dog Lady at April 23, 2005 10:08 AM