Nanny McPhee (2005)

Very very predictable, including the post credit scene !!!

Good films always raise compelling questions, whether the format is fiction or documentary fact.

It's a good bad... and worth a popcorn matinée. While it's easy to lament what could have been...

The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

Nanny McPhee (2005): Dir: Kirk Jones / Cast: Emma Thompson, Colin Firth, Angela Launsbury, Kelly MacDonald, Imelda Stauton: Revolting family film that plays like an ugly version of Mary Poppins. It addresses authority while never explaining anything. After the umpteenth nanny leaves a widowed father is met with a mysterious nanny who will whip his misbehaving children into shape. Like Poppins, this nanny isn't given any background but at least Mary Poppins had an engaging personality. McPhee has two warts and a buck tooth that seemingly disappear as the children progress, and she seems to appear at will without explanation. Directed by Kirk Jones with fine visual elements, but the screenplay contains none of the magic or imaginative writing of Mary Poppins. Emma Thompson is a fine talent but McPhee is perhaps too much of a mystery. Colin Firth plays the typical absent father who will learn to have time for the children. He also seems to be stupid enough to marry the first woman who glances his way. Angela Launsbury plays an evil relative with greedy intentions. She dealt with similar material in the magical Bedknobs and Broomsticks where she played a witch in charge of three children. Kelly MacDonald plays a maid who will obviously end up with Firth. Perhaps if he used birth control he wouldn't overpopulate. Score: 3 / 10

Mr. Brown (Colin Firth) is a recently widowed father of seven children. The kids hate all nannies and have become experts at running them off. More than anything, they fear that they will have an evil step mother like in the fairy tales. In desperation, Mr. Brown listens to a mysterious voice and asks for Nanny McPhee. Her rule is "When you need me but do not want me, then I must stay. When you want me but no longer need me, then I have to go." Also great aunt Lady Adelaide Stitch (Angela Lansbury) who financially supports Mr. Brown is now demanding he remarry by the end of the month.The kids are annoying brats. I guess that's the point of the movie. Kelly Macdonald is the only real likable character as the servant Evangeline. This is one ruckus kids movie that I'm not sure kids will like. Nanny McPhee is no Mary Poppins. And which kids like to watch other wild kids being disciplined. But in the end, I think they will like all the wild craziness on the screen.

I think this is a pretty decent flick for the whole family, probably not at the same level of masterpieces like "The Sound of Music" and "Mary Poppins", but at least it was much better than most of the so-called family films that Hollywood keeps producing in the recent years.For me, what made this movie work were the funny performances of each actor, particularly Colin Firth and Emma Thompson, who made this film a very enjoyable experience despite the silliness of some scenes.Honestly, this turned out to be much better than I was expecting, and some scenes (like for example, the beautiful ending scene) remind me the times when innocent films for the whole family were produced, unlike the commercial and inappropriate kid's movies and television shows of the recent years.

17 governesses have tried to run widower Mr. Brown's house, all have fled after being terrorised by his out of control children. Enter the mysterious and unsightly Nanny McPhee, whose magical timing could not be more apt.Emma Thompson adapts from a series of books written by Christianna Brand known as the Nurse Matilda stories. Directed by Kirk Jones (Waking Ned), Nanny McPhee is a delightfully funny family adventure that should hopefully cheer the bluest of hearts. With a very old fashioned ethic at its heart, the film loads in some modern day tricks and eye pleaser's and washes it in vibrant colours. Set in some unnamed place, the film is like a fusion of Alice In Wonderland and Mary Poppins with a slice of Love Actually thrown in for the adults.Thompson takes the lead role and has a blast with it, it seems that McPhee is a role she has waited a long time for. Attacking it with gusto yet constantly having a cheeky glint in her eye, Thompson is just perfect and it comes as no surprise to learn that the sequel is imminent. The rest of the cast keep it fun, Colin Firth as Mr. Brown is playing it as Colin Firth does, elegant yet borderline soft, and Imelda Staunton is revelling in playing the almost nut case Brown family cook. Then there is Celia Imrie's horrid Mrs Quickly, big hair, big smile and big bosom, her scenes in the last quarter are quality comedy, while the beautiful Kelly Macdonald impacts with what is the crucial, yet small, role. The kids are not sickly or annoying, led by Love Actually's Thomas Sangster, director Jones deserves much credit for bringing them all together to engage and entertain without pointless histrionics.But this is Thompson's show, a memorable turn in what is clearly a source subject close to her heart. 7/10