If nothing else Because of Winn Dixie is a film with it's heart in the right place. And though fleshing out characters so deeply ingrained into the American psyche, as are these found in Kate DiCamillos time-honored book about hard-times and hope in the South, I'd have to say that good ole southern boy Wayne Wang has done a serviceable job. First and foremost the two mains Opal and Winn Dixie are impeccably cast. Anna Sophia Robb strikes the right mixture of innocence and luminescence and the canine thespian hired in the title role is an absolute Godsend. How many dogs can smile on cue? The casting department also deserves praise for their inspired choice of Jeff Daniels as the beleaguered Preacher. He does his, put-upon dead-pan thing to great effect.

Wang directs the film in a simple, straight forward manner, and though it is obviously oriented for children, I found myself enjoying much of it. Seeing the world, particularly the South through the wide eyes of Opal was not only heart-wrending but thought-provoking. The message is plain and it is presented without pretense and for that I give the film thumbs up - though it's hardly a classic. Along the way Opal and Winn Dixie (the dog who appears as if as an answer to a prayer) befriend and begin to mend the lives of lonesome characters played by film icons such as Cicely Tyson and Eva Marie Saint - even cult musician Dave Matthews turns in a believable performance as an ex-con with a magic way with his guitar.

This is a film with absolutely no guile, or pretense and succeeds because of it's straight forward approach to it's lonely characters who find friendship due to a big unwieldy stray Opal names Winn Dixie after rescuing it from the pound after it goes for a spree in a local supermarket. Those prone to tears will spill a few and those who look at things through cynical eyes will consider the film alot of crap. Myself I decided to just go with it, and I found it both emotionally stirring as well as fun.

Again this isn't To Kill a Mockingbird, but there's enough meat to the story to keep it valid to both children and adults, and though it certainly plays to the grandstands with Opal's enormous blue eyes, and a dog who can smile and lonely adults who find solace in the ways of a child - I think most folks would enjoy sitting down and getting to know these characters for ninety minutes. I did.