(Credit: www.impawards.com)
Director:
Kirk Jones
Cast:
Emma Thompson……….Nanny McPhee
Colin Firth……….Cedric Brown
Kelly Macdonald……….Evangeline
Celia Imrie……….Selma Quickly
Derek Jacobi……….Mr. Wheen
Patrick Barlow……….Mr. Jowls
Imelda Staunton……….Mrs. Blatherwick
Thomas Sangster……….Simon Brown
Angela Lansbury……….Aunt Adelaide
Universal Pictures presents Nanny McPhee. Written by Emma Thompson. Based on the Nurse Matilda books by Christianna Brand. Running time: 97 minutes. Rated PG (for mild thematic elements, some rude humor and brief language).
Nanny McPhee is not your ordinary nanny. She’s not some guy who pretends to be the nanny to his children while wearing women’s clothing. She doesn’t have that annoying Fran Drescher laugh that has the power to break glass and is rumored to make heads explode. No, Nanny McPhee (Emma Thompson) has neither of these traits. What she does have, though, is two warts on her face, a Chiclet tooth protruding from her mouth, and a magical walking stick.
With that description one would think Nanny McPhee is a witch. Maybe, but she doesn’t come equipped with a black cat or a wicker broom or all those other accessories we typically stereotype witches of having. And if she was a witch, she tends to lean towards the side of good instead of evil. So no wicked witch of the West comparisons, please.
This nanny is not an easy woman to get a hold of. You can’t find her name in any phone book, and she is not affiliated with any nanny agency. McPhee only makes an appearance when times are at their most dreadful. Lucky for Cedric Brown (Colin Firth), then, that her assistance is needed in a big way.
Cedric is a single parent, and a widower, trying to raise seven children. When he’s away at his job in a funeral parlor, he must rely on the assistance of a cook, a maid, and a nanny. Sounds fair enough: three (or four) able-bodied adults versus seven children. Ah, if only it were that easy.
In this fantasy, the story does not begin with “Once upon a time in a land far, far, away…” Instead, the current nanny runs out of the front door – screaming hysterically – towards the funeral parlor to tell Mr. Brown that she is quitting. But before doing so, she says the children are eating the youngest child. Come to find out, it was just chicken. Mmmmm mmmmmm good. Nothing like chewing on a good leg or breast.
Nanny-less, Mr. Brown is in a bit of a conundrum. His latest nanny’s resignation makes it the seventeenth nanny the kids have driven away from the residence. Seventeen! Just how bad are these kids? Well, the nanny agency closes shop every time Mr. Brown knocks on door. Yeah, that’s not good. If you can imagine Macaulay Culkin’s Home Alone theatrics and multiply it by a hundred you’ll begin to realize there’s nothing these mischievous little buggers won’t do.
The pill to cure this ill mysteriously arrives on the Brown’s doorstep one night and goes straight to work. Nanny McPhee does not sing “Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious” or Chim Chim Cher-ee” to help get the children in line, but rather, teaches five rules to help them become better individuals. Part of the process, involves making the children take “measles medicine”, which is some black goo that moves about in her spoon. She also puts the youngest child in danger because the kids refuse to say “Please”. But, of course, she means well.
If seven kids weren’t enough to keep her busy, Nanny McPhee must contend with Mr. Brown’s tiresome aunt, Aunt Adelaide (Angela Lansbury), and her attempts at taking the children away from their father. There’s also the story thread involving the father having to get married so that he and his little miscreants can afford to live together – via a stipend provided by their aunt.
As Nanny McPhee, Emma Thompson is no stranger to cleaning up people’s messes. In Primary Colors, several years back, she played the wife of a Southern governor running for president, and had to deal with husband’s “dirty deeds”. Thankfully, the deeds are not nearly that dirty in Nanny McPhee. Though, there is a brief moment where Aunt Adelaide expresses disapproval in her nephew’s choice for a wife by saying “Incest!” Don’t worry, kids watching will have no idea what the word means. Maybe that’s what the MPAA board means “Rated PG for some rude humor”.
Nanny McPhee, while strictly formulaic, is sure to appease the children that throng to the cinema with their Milk Duds and popcorn snacks. For adults, not so much. The film is a rehash of the Mary Poppins and Mrs. Doubtfires that have preceded it. If the director’s intention was for humor filled with Dr. Seuss extravagances and pie-in-the-face sight gags, then he succeeded. The best parents can hope is for their children to retain the valuable lessons of Nanny McPhee. They can start by saying “thank you for the movie.”
