| NANNY MCPHEE |
 2006 - France / USA / UK Director: Kirk Jones
- Reviewed by Vickie
Based on the Nurse Matilda books by Christianna Brand, and with a terrifically sharp screenplay penned by Thompson, the film takes a fairly standard story and infuses it with humor, heart and cute Bassett hounds. Widower Cedric Brown (Colin Firth) has seven wild children, whose favorite pastime is driving away the nannies hired to mind them. In record time, the rambunctious rugrats—led by eldest brother, Simon (Love Actually’s Thomas Sangster)—dispose of one terrified governess after another. Watching from the sidelines are the family’s stout and sturdy cook (Imelda Staunton) and the winsome, introverted “scullery maid,” Evangeline (Kelly Macdonald). At his wit’s end, Cedric searches for someone, anyone, who can reign in his kids, and before you can say “a spoonful of sugar,” the mildly intimidating and wholly unattractive Nanny McPhee (Thompson) mysteriously shows up on his doorstep. She’s a woman with a plan to tame the small savage beasts… and a magical walking stick with all kinds of mystical properties. While Nanny McPhee wrangles the kids, cash-strapped Cedric tackles his own dilemma. His haughty, wealthy, bird-like Great Aunt Adelaide (Angela Lansbury) has issued an ultimatum: find a new wife within a month or be financially cut-off immediately. Without any obvious (to him, anyway) prospects in sight, Cedric resigns himself to settling for amorous widow, Mrs. Quickly (Celia Imrie, in a brilliantly over-the-top performance). But will he wind up marrying a woman his children hate? Will Nanny McPhee transform the little tyrants? Will Vickie still be choking back tears by the time the closing credits roll? Methinks we all know the answers, but that doesn’t make the film’s journey any less fun. Thompson is, not surprisingly, wonderful. Forget Sarah Jessica Parker’s throat-clearing tic in The Family Stone—nothing beats the multi-layered subtext contained in each and every one of Nanny McPhee’s guttural “hmms.” There’s the disapproving hmm, the displeased hmm, the skeptical hmm, the impressed hmm…and the list goes on. Nevermind that she manages to create a nanny as lovable and endearing as the saintly Mary Poppins while she’s wrapped in hideous latex make-up and an enormous fanny bustle. The stellar supporting cast, from the grown-ups to the pint-sized co-stars, are all just as good, with the aforementioned Imrie and Macdonald standouts with their two vastly different roles. Kudos also go to the production designers and sound editors for their skilled work at creating a super-saturated palette on which to conduct the action, and the perfectly pitched music and effects which add a twinkle to the already fanciful proceedings that will entertain the under-12 set as much as it will delight countless grown-ups. DVD NOTES - by JenniferAfter watching the thoroughly enjoyable Nanny McPhee, you'll undoubtedly want to delve into the extra features on the DVD—just to make the viewing experience last longer. The featurettes "Casting the Children" and "Village Life" give insight into the preproduction process of finding the perfect child actors for the movie and building the nifty village set on three empty acres of land. Watch Emma Thompson transform before your eyes in the "Nanny McPhee Makeover" featurette, and learn all about author/illustrator team Christianna Brand and Edward Ardizzone in "How Nanny McPhee Came to Be". Thompson appears in each featurette, and lets us in on all of the behind-the-scenes action. As usual the "Deleted Scenes" were deleted for good reason and aren't that interesting, but there's a lively gag reel, as well as feature commentary from Emma Thompson, the children, and the film's director and producer. An excellent effort by all involved! |
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At the outset of this whimsical and distinctly British family comedy,
Emma Thompson’s warty, homely and deliciously stern titular character
utters something along the lines of the following to her unruly young
charges: “As long as you need me but do not want me, I shall stay. But
when you want me and do not need me, I must go.” (Cue: Vickie
immediately choking back tears.) At that moment, I knew that not only
would everyone in the film fall for Nanny McPhee, but so would everyone
in the audience.
