I went to see Charlotte’s Web with my daughter’s class recently. Actually, it was with most of the elementary school. Imagine being in a theater filled with kids with snacks and drinks, as you would expect it was very noisy. But that didn’t stop me from enjoying the movie. It was very good.There are those who may wonder why anyone would remake Charlotte’s Web. How can you improve on the cartoon version? And the book is so memorable, wouldn’t that spoil the movie? But I’ve seen the movie and read the book and it really didn’t matter that I knew the story by heart because the makers of the movie did a great job making this their own. Every aspect of the movie was well done. The photography and the sets were great and the scenery was beautiful. Dakota Fanning made a wonderful Fern, she came across as intelligent and determined. The animals were life-like and made you forget that animals can’t talk. The producers also did an excellent job casting the animal voices and the actors themselves did a great job since you could forget about the actor and just concentrate on the character. In fact I did not realize that Julia Roberts was Charlotte. She did an excellent job conveying Charlotte’s gentleness and intelligence. I cried when she talked of her friendship with Wilbur and when she was so sacrificial in her love for him, helping him even when she knew it would drain her own energy (I kinda cried throughout the movie, and I tried to do it quietly so that Samantha’s classmates wouldn’t notice — I didn’t want to embarrass her).This is a wonderful story of friendship and promises, how important it is to keep a promise made to your friend. Wilbur’s life depended on the commitment of both Charlotte and Fern to keep their promises to him. What a wonderful message to convey to your kids this Christmas season as we reflect on the promises that God made to both Abraham and David and to the nation of Israel that found their fulfillment in the birth of Jesus in Bethlehem.

,movie review