A "Winn"ing Movie

Don't you love it when you pull a movie off the shelf, thinking it might be a real "goody," and you're right? We caught an especially "goody" family one last night.

Because of Winn-Dixie.

When the film came out a few years ago, I bought the book to read and then share with Emily. I got about halfway through it and put it down, forgetting about it. Emily spotted it on my bookshelf and asked if she could read it. Since I hadn't finished it and I knew there was some sad content in the book, I hesitated. She had a hard time with anything sad in books. But then I gave in. She came down later on and lifted the book high in the air and told me how much she loved it.

So when we spotted the DVD on the shelf in the library I couldn't resist. I'd been eyeing it at the store but wasn't sure it was one I wanted to own. There's no doubt in me now. It's a true classic; one that I would like to own and watch again and again.

The message is so refreshingly positive and sweet. The little girl and her father move to a small town in Florida. She's very lonely but in no way depressed. She finds a dog and names him Winn-Dixie (for the store where she found him), and he helps her to make new friends all over the town....friends she might not have met without him. My favorite line: "I didn't find Winn-Dixie...he found me. He knew I needed him."

And it's so nice to see a respectful child character. She is so kind and caring about the older characters in the film, especially her father, and it works. It isn't cheesy or put on. It's genuine because she loves them. (Take that, Nickelodeon!)

It had all the elements a family film should have and left us laughing and crying at the same time.

A definite winner!