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Peter Debruge, Miami Herald: Fanning isn't quite right. No doubt the ubiquitous young lady is the first child actor anyone pictures as Fern, but is there ever a moment in which the audience isn't aware they're watching Dakota Fanning in the part? Read more
Michael Phillips, Chicago Tribune: Director Gary Winick keeps the film's modesty of scale and generosity of spirit in mind throughout. The story has a pull like few others, and Sam Shepard's narration keeps everything easy and unpretentious, in sync with White's prose. Read more
J. R. Jones, Chicago Reader: [The film] relies heavily on the voices, though the actors are sometimes miscast (Julia Roberts as the spider) or chosen more for their on-screen personas than their pipes (Steve Buscemi as the rat). Read more
Moira MacDonald, Seattle Times: The film, directed by Gary Winick (13 Going on 30) has a sweetness of its own. Read more
Richard Roeper, Ebert & Roeper: I think this would have worked better as a fully animated film. Read more
Steve Murray, Atlanta Journal-Constitution: Some pig, in a so-so but lovingly made movie. Read more
Tasha Robinson, AV Club: In the end, the pros and cons all just add up to that same bit of modern-day kid-movie praise: It could have been so much worse. Read more
Bill Muller, Arizona Republic: There's too much talent and too strong a story to mess it up. There was potential for more here, but this incarnation is nothing to be ashamed of, and some of the actors answer the bell. Read more
Wesley Morris, Boston Globe: 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 more
Kevin Crust, Los Angeles Times: The ads promise magic, but apart from the requisite heart-tugging finale, what it delivers is uneventful. Read more
Bruce Westbrook, Houston Chronicle: Charlotte's Web adapts a classic, which is not to say it is one. Read more
Tom Charity, CNN.com: I think what's most valuable here is the gentle reminder that lives are short, friendship is priceless and words can make a difference. The movie Charlotte's Web isn't a classic, but the message is. Read more
Lisa Kennedy, Denver Post: Some will bristle at liberties taken. Cows do indeed break wind. Yet the movie's use of flatulence is less a nod to rural truths than a reliance on what has become a go-to gag in movie's made for the booster-seat set. Read more
Tom Long, Detroit News: How could Charlotte's Web go wrong? It doesn't. It's a perfectly respectful, take-the-kids, down-home but enchanting-enough adaptation of the story of a pig who learns about life from a spider. Take the kids, especially the young, unsullied ones. Read more
Owen Gleiberman, Entertainment Weekly: It's a movie that might just inspire E.B. White, up in literary heaven, to wipe away a tear of gratitude. Read more
Terry Lawson, Detroit Free Press: Fans of E.B. White's elegant, droll style will be happy to know it is wonderfully faithful to the book. I know because I read it as soon as I came home from the movie. Read more
Liam Lacey, Globe and Mail: What do you say about a mediocre movie adaptation of a literary masterpiece? Could have been worse? Or, it could have been much, much better, but even then it probably wouldn't measure up to the original? Read more
Nancy Churnin, Dallas Morning News: Children of all ages, even those not old enough to read, can enjoy the journey. Read more
Jan Stuart, Newsday: What I can say, without equivocating, is that E.B. White's wise and wonderful children's classic is now a very nice motion picture. Read more
Stephen Whitty, Newark Star-Ledger: Unfortunately, Charlotte's Web is an unremarkable collection of cute kids, talking animals and syrupy sentiment. There's little of White's original spare style and even less to entertain anyone but the very undemanding. Read more
Elizabeth Weitzman, New York Daily News: Like its porcine protagonist, E.B. White's classic 1952 story Charlotte's Web manages to be both radiant and humble. If only the same could be said for Gary Winick's live-action adaptation, which is neither. Read more
Roger Moore, Orlando Sentinel: "Some pig?" Sure. Some spider. And some book. Some movie, too. Read more
James Berardinelli, ReelViews: Charlotte's Web has all the requisite elements that a family film needs to succeed and endure: humor, drama, pathos, and an emotionally satisfying ending. Read more
Stephanie Zacharek, Salon.com: Best of all may be the narration, by Sam Shepard: His voice, the kind of voice God might have if he'd ever smoked Camels, frames this gentle but potent little story with good-natured authority, making it feel modern and ageless at once. Read more
Ruthe Stein, San Francisco Chronicle: Charlotte's Web, a splendid new screen adaptation of White's 1952 children's book, gloriously brings the classic to life. If you've never read it, this is a perfect introduction. Read more
Dana Stevens, Slate: To paraphrase the novel's famous last lines, it's not often a story comes along that can make for both a great book and a wonderful movie. Charlotte's Web isn't both. Read more
Peter Howell, Toronto Star: It's a movie so modest and gentle, you'll hear your neighbour's popcorn crunch. But you may also hear your heart beating. And there's nothing wrong with that. Read more
Derek Adams, Time Out: Youngsters will warm to the barn's talking animals and perhaps even shed a tear at the sight of a spider shuffling off the mortal coil. Arachnaphobes, though, are advised to approach with caution. Read more
Claudia Puig, USA Today: A whimsical and warmly appealing adaptation of the children's classic. Read more
Todd McCarthy, Variety: This highly polished picture is superficially faithful, even reverential to its source, but evinces neither imagination nor a personality of its own. Read more
Jessica Grose, Village Voice: Breathe easy: Gary Winick's new, live-action Charlotte's Web pic does not screw up one of the seminal works of American children's literature. Read more
Desson Thomson, Washington Post: 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 more