Thursday, November 2, 2017

MOVIE DIALOG OF THE DAY ― BECAUSE OF WINN DIXIE (2005)

Connection with the previous post (THE JOY LUCK CLUB): Wayne Wang wrote and directed TJLC and directed BOWD.

RATINGS: IMDB ―6.4/10, Rotten Tomatoes ― 54%, ME ― 65% 



Otis: [sucking on a lozenge] Tastes like music. Reminds me of... being in jail.
Opal: Otis... what were you in jail for?
[he grunts uncomfortably]
Opal: You don't have to tell me. I was just wondering.
Otis: I never hurt anybody. Never meant to. But I've been locked up. I remember the day very well. I was sitting in a park playing a little music. And there were people walking their dogs and children were laughing. It was a perfect day so I felt like playing music. I put my... I put my hat out there... but I wasn't really playing for money I just thought that if maybe someone was enjoying it then they'd throw a little change in there... not much but just...
Opal: Well music is better if somebody's listening.
Otis: Anyways... this police man came up to me... he said I was disturbing the peace and then he tried to take my guitar away from me and I guess I got real angry at him. But I'm not a bad man. I'm just not
[sung]
Otis: a lucky man.
[spoken]
Otis: Anyway they told me that I broke that policeman's nose, and they charged me with assault on a police officer, and no matter what I said they wouldn't listen... no matter what I said they wouldn't... they gave me three years... I said I'm not a bad man I'm just not
[sung]
Otis: a lucky man.
[spoken]
Otis: but you, when I, when I look at you
[sung]
Otis: you are like a butterfly... a caterpillar's dream to fly. You bust out of this old cocoon and dry your wings off. Butterfly... go ahead and fly.

Dave Matthews  as Otis and AnnaSophia Robb as Opal

Trivia (From IMDB):

To make sure both dogs got on well with AnnaSophia Robb, who played Opal, she was brought in early to get acquainted with the dogs and give them treats. By the time shooting started, they considered her a "safe" area.

The film's mouse was played by a rat. The choice was made carefully because while a mouse would have been preferable, rats are much easier to train.

Winn-Dixie was played by multiple Picardy Shepherds, a rare breed from France. The DVD extra "Diamond in the Ruff" shows the two principal dogs, Scott and Lyco, but producer Trevor Albert mentions at 18:00 and 40:26 in the DVD feature commentary that, in all, four dogs were used. At 00:36 in AnnaSophia Robb's commentary "Meet Winn-Dixie" she mentions that the stunt dog Tasha jumped over the flour.

Director Wayne Wang wanted to use Picardy Shepherds because he thought they looked similar to the depiction of Winn-Dixie on the book cover and would appear familiar to its readers. Dogs were brought from France when none were available in the U.S. (08:55 in the DVD commentary).

The film, like the book, is set in Naomi, Florida, even though it was filmed in Louisiana. Consequently, the police car and uniform emblems depict the state of Florida rather than the state of Louisiana.

Both Jeff Daniels and Harland Williams' second movie together; both had previously appeared in "Dumb and Dumber" (1994)

The bunny that Ottis hands Opal (at around 56 mins) is a Netherlands Dwarf. They only get to be between 6 to 8 inches long.

The last name of Opal and her dad, Buloni (mentioned in the dialog at 49:50 in the lunch meat joke), is shown on a sign to the left of the trailer door at 22:37 and elsewhere in the feature. In the scene from 10:45 to 11:03 where Winn-Dixie first arrives at the trailer, only the bottom edge of the sign is visible in the full frame version at 10:53 (when seen on a computer without "overscan" cropping) while in the wide screen version that edge is cropped from view.

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