Nanny McPhee (2005)

"When you need me, but don't want me, then I must stay. When you want me, but don't need me, then I must go." "Nanny McPhee" is about a father, Cedric Brown (Colin Firth), that has a hard time keeping a nanny in house because his kids (Thomas Brodie-Sangster, Eliza Bennett, Holly Gibbs, etc.) run the house. Then Nanny McPhee (Emma Thompson) comes to see if she can help. At first the kids will do anything in their power to get rid of the new nanny; but later Nanny and the kids will help his father trying to marry with the beautiful Evangeline (Kelly MacDonald). Will McPhee leave or stay and teach them how to behave?Pro: Good plot Con: lacking acting I just thought "Mary Poppins" and "The Sound of Music" (the two masterpieces that influenced this movie) were a better films.

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.

The strongest aspect of NM is the visual quality, into which valiant effort must have gone. Well done. However, as determined as the filmmakers must have been in trying to make this predictable kiddie-movie formula film look great, they were even more ambitious in one thing: trying to make Angela Lansbury look worse than she already does.And I'm not just taking cheap shots at her three-digit age (she's like Lauren Bacall: immortal). The point is that she'd always looked hideous. (That's nepotism for ya.) Which begs the obvious conclusion: sticking a large nose onto Lansbury is an utterly unnecessary act of sheer overkill. Futile; sort of like the reverse of trying to make a cockroach look sexy by giving it breast implants.I could be similarly nasty about Emma Thompson. When her warts and the tooth are gone, do we really see much of an improvement? Hardly a face to fall in love with - unless your name is Ken and you make dull Shakespeare adaptations (for lazy O-Level students) for a living. She also wrote the screenplay, based on some kids' books, and that must have been one helluva feat, huh? Even Madonna managed to put a few sentences together when she released her bin-worthy drivel. (Although, to be fair, when it comes to the Immaterial (Kabbalah, remember) Girl I'll just have to give her the non-benefit of a doubt and assume that she hired a ghost writer even for that.)Colin Firth... Well, Firth is his usual self. Has he ever played anyone else - besides himself I mean? Still, the English understatement, combined with the stereotypical lack of confidence, suited the movie well.Some adults were unnecessarily harsh with their comments and ratings with this movie. They consider it to be too predictable and childish. Well, duh: it's a movie for kids, not adults. What did they expect, "The Usual Suspects"?

Nanny McPhee (Emma Thompson), a person of unsettling appearance and magical powers, enters the household of the recently widowed Mr. Brown (Colin Firth) and attempts to tame his seven exceedingly ill-behaved children. The children, led by the oldest boy Simon (Thomas Sangster), have managed to drive away 17 previous nannies and are certain that they will have no trouble with this one. But as Nanny McPhee takes control, they begin to notice that their vile behavior now leads swiftly and magically to rather startling consequences.Her influence also extends to the family's deeper problems, including Mr. Brown's sudden and seemingly inexplicable attempts to find a new wife; an announcement by the domineering Aunt Adelaide (Angela Lansbury) that she intends to take one of the children away; and the sad and secret longings of their scullery maid, Evangeline (Kelly Macdonald). As the children's behavior begins to change, Nanny McPhee's arresting face and frame appear to change as well, creating even more questions about this mysterious stranger whom the children and their father have come to love. Nanny McPhee 3/10