Charlotte's Web (2006)Movie Reviews

Poster art for "Charlotte's Web."

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Avg. Critic Score: 68 out of 100 Generally favorable reviews Metascore® based on all critic reviews
Information for Parents:
5 OK for kids 5+
Read Common Sense Media review

Critic scores range from 0 to 100, with higher scores indicating more favorable reviews.

  • 100
    The Hollywood Reporter | Michael Rechtshaffen

    The endearingly enduring 1952 E.B. White novel about friendship and salvation, has been turned into a beautifully rendered motion picture that's full of warmth, wit and wonder. Read full review

  • 100
    San Francisco Chronicle | Ruthe Stein

    There's an edge to this exemplary family movie, just as there is in the story. Read full review

  • 91
    Entertainment Weekly | Owen Gleiberman

    What hooks you from the start is Dakota Fanning's unfussy passion as Fern. Read full review

  • 88
    USA Today | Claudia Puig

    Kids should enjoy the comic performances of the animals, and adults will appreciate the film's gentle poignancy, powerful enough to induce a lump in the throat. Read full review

  • 80
    The New York Times | A.O. Scott

    May not be perfect, but it honors its source and captures the key elements -- the humor and good sense, as well as the sheer narrative exuberance -- that have made White's book a classic. Read full review

  • 75
    Philadelphia Inquirer | Carrie Rickey

    A perfectly lovely, if uninspired, movie that suffers from following on the trotters of "Babe," the one about the piglet advocate of barnyard brotherhood. Read full review

  • 70
    Washington Post | Desson Thomson

    Remember the peaceful atmosphere of bedtime storytelling? The kind that allows parent and child to take satisfaction in the story, not the teller? That's how "Charlotte" draws you into its web. Read full review

  • 63
    Boston Globe | Wesley Morris

    Indeed, woe be to the child who doesn't mist up at this movie, since it's been made if not with zip, wit, or imagination, then at least with sweetness. But I hope no one will think the film is an adequate replacement for White's book. That would be a crime. Read full review

  • 50
    Variety | Todd McCarthy

    Nowhere to be found is any dramatic surprise, heightening of the pulse or genuine pulling of heartstrings. Gary Winick's direction consists of button pushing, and the mechanics are palpable at every step. Read full review

  • 50
    Los Angeles Times | Kevin Crust

    The new live-action rendering of E.B. White's perennial children's favorite, Charlotte's Web, is so carefully spun that it's lifeless. Read full review

View more reviews for Charlotte's Web (2006) on Metacritic

Information for Parents
Common Sense Media says OK for kids 5+ Enchanting take on a beloved children's classic.
What Parents Need to Know Parents need to know that the younger crowd will probably be very eager to see this one -- and for good reason. It's unusually respectful of its much-loved source (E.B. White's classic novel) and its young audience. While the movie does refer to the farmer's plan to kill Wilbur for Christmas dinner, the pivotal (and most potentially upsetting) moment is the death of a central character, which is followed by appropriate mourning and recovery by her barnyard friends. Some of the animal characters are initially unfriendly to a new arrival, and Templeton the rat scavenges objects and talks about being selfish and sneaky. Crows attack him, with their point-of-view shots suggesting the danger he's in. Although 5 is the ideal age for this movie, 4-year-olds should be fine, too, as long as they're able to handle the sad parts.
  • Families can talk about how the different characters learn to accept one another.
  • How do they come to see one another as friends, even though at first they're put off by their differences?
  • Why does Charlotte want to help Wilbur?
  • If you've read the book, how does the movie compare to what you imagined in your head?
  • Families can also discuss the importance of words and their role in the film. How are words important for communicating, even between species? How do they help shape our impressions of others?
The good stuff
  • message true3 Positive messages: Charlotte is determined and generous; WIlbur is courageous and, yes, "humble" and Fern is open to all her animal friends' very different sorts of beauty. Even "bad guy" Templeton has hidden depths.
  • rolemodels true4 Positive role models: Not an issue
What to watch for
  • violence false0 Violence and scariness: Minor slapstick and sense of threat when crows chase rat; minor disturbance when rat's rotten egg explodes; allusions to Wilbur's imminent fate as Christmas dinner (use of the word "bacon" and ominous shots of the "cure house"); a central character dies (peacefully), and the others mourn their loss.
  • sex false0 Sexy stuff: Charlotte gives birth (no mention of how she ended up having babies).
  • language false0 Language: Not an issue
  • consumerism false0 Consumerism: Not an issue
  • drugsalcoholtobacco false0 Drinking, drugs and smoking: Not an issue
An independent nonprofit dedicated to providing families the information they need to help kids thrive in a world of media and technology. © Common Sense Media Inc. 2010. All rights reserved.

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Dave White

5.0

Dave White Profile See Dave White's Profile

… gentle, literate … Read full review See Dave White's on MOVIENAME on Movies.com

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