Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE: Nanny McPhee (2005)

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Posted by James R. Hammonds, Jr (Member # 673) on 01-31-2006, 04:21 PM:

Saturday, January 28, 2006
AMC Gulf Pointe 30 Houston, TX
Auditorium 14, 12:35PM (or close to it)

Presentation was good.
There was a Gummi Bear on the screen, probably left over from the previous night.
Screen lighting, framing, and focus were all good, although the image was overshooting a little to the left.
Sound was good as well.

Nanny McPhee is a cute family movie about not only teaching children to behave, but also teaching adults to listen.
Colin Firth stars as Cedric Brown, a widower and father of 7 ill-behaved children.
The children have successfully run off each of the 17 nannies Cedric has hired since the death of his wife.
When the agency that had previously provided him with nannies informs him that there are no more nannies that will go to him, he hears a voice that tells him “The one you need is Nanny McPhee.”
Nanny McPhee (Emma Thompson), a hideous looking woman with bad teeth, a big nose, and a couple of moles, uses magic powers to keep the kids in line.
She has specific lessons that she believes the children need to learn.
As each lesson is learned, a mark of ugliness disappears from her face.

In addition to his misbehaving children, Mr. Brown must also concern himself with Aunt Adelaide (Angela Lansbury) who has been supporting the family financially.
Adelaide has threatened to cut off support and take custody of the children unless he is able to marry within a month’s time.
The children do not want him to remarry because stepmothers are evil women (as shown in nearly every fairy tale ever written) who also turn fathers evil.
Brown’s oldest son Simon (Thomas Sangster) already believes that his father has stopped caring about them and is only concerned about finding a new wife.
When Mr. Brown tries to set up a wedding with the widow Mrs. Quickly (Celia Imrie), the children must find a way to stop the wedding and convince their father to marry their housekeeper Evangeline (Kelly MacDonald) instead.
In one scene, Mr. Brown is asked to read the children a bedtime story, but he says that he is too busy.
In another, Simon and Mr. Brown have a disagreement, and when his father yells at him and tells him to leave his work, Simon screams that he never listens before running out.

Unlike many other children and family movies these days, this movie does not rely too heavily on silly sight gags and song and dance stunts.
There is one brief scene where a mule dances, but that is pretty much the extent of this movie’s cheese factor.
I would watch this movie again.

4 out of 5 stars.