... The agency refuses to send anyone else, so Mr Brown calls on the mysterious Nanny McPhee, who uses her magical powers to lick the children into shape. But just as the children are starting to behave, their evil Great Aunt Adelaide arrives on the scene intent on breaking the family up for good.
The ... Read review
With hairy warts, a stern-looking unibrow and one extremely protruding buck-tooth,Nanny ... more
McPheeis a wonderfully comedic substitute for Mary Poppins in this entertaining family fantasy. By loosely adapting Christianna Brand'sNurse Matildachildren's books...
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With hairy warts, a stern-looking unibrow and one extremely protruding buck-tooth,Nanny ... more
McPheeis a wonderfully comedic substitute for Mary Poppins in this entertaining family fantasy. By loosely adapting Christianna Brand'sNurse Matildachildren's books...
Postage & Packaging: Free! Availability: Usually dispatched within 4 to 6 weeks...
Advantages: Some nice performances and a sense of the absurd Disadvantages: It may be an acquired taste
...Brown calls on the mysterious Nanny McPhee, who uses her magical powers to lick the children into shape. But just as the children are starting to behave, their evil Great Aunt Adelaide arrives on the scene intent on breaking the family up for good.
The last time Emma Thompson wrote a screenplay (for "Sense and Sensibility") she won an Oscar. It's safe to say there's little danger of that for "Nanny McPhee" after ... ...so harsh on it I'm not sure. It is a peculiar little film that feels like a throwback to a simpler time and could easily have been made by Disney thirty years ago. It is certainly whimsical and will appeal to kids who like their magic less frightening than that in "Harry Potter". Based on the "Nurse Matilda" books by Christianna Brand, it has a very strong sense of self that encompasses everything from the production design to ... more
Widower Mr Brown has seven unruly children who have just seen off their seventeenth nanny. The agency refuses to send anyone else, so Mr Brown calls on the mysterious Nanny McPhee, who uses her magical powers to lick the children into shape. But just as the children are starting to behave, their evil Great Aunt Adelaide arrives on the scene intent on breaking the family up for good.
The last time Emma Thompson wrote a screenplay (for "Sense and Sensibility") she won an Oscar. It's safe to say there's little danger of that for "Nanny McPhee" after the critical mauling by the press. Quite why they were so harsh on it I'm not sure. It is a peculiar little film that feels like a throwback to a simpler time and could easily have been made by Disney thirty years ago. It is certainly whimsical and will appeal to kids who like their magic less frightening than that in "Harry Potter". Based on the "Nurse Matilda" books by Christianna Brand, it has a very strong sense of self that encompasses everything from the production design to the style of acting. The entire movie is set in a brightly coloured fairytale hinterland where everything is larger than life. The whole endeavour is extremely theatrical, which may be what upset the critics. It's almost like watching a stage show on film with its pantomimic performances, violent slapstick and heightened language. It's not going to be everyone's cup of tea, but if your kids are under ten and enjoy films like "Bedknobs and Broomsticks" and "Mary Poppins" this will be right up their street.
Director Kirk Jones knows his audience; allowing children to get one over on the adults without causing any real harm to anyone, running through a series of mini adventures, a couple of hissable baddies, a food fight and of course having the obligatory happy ending. It clips along at a fair pace and is good, clean fun for all the family. The director clearly feels for Mr Brown and indulges the on-screen family just enough. Jones knows how to frame a joke and has very good timing for where sight-gags are concerned. He also knows how to sprinkle sufficient fairy dust on it to keep the kiddies interested without over-egging the pudding. Some of the effects (especially the animatronic donkey) are a bit naïve but still endearing. The whole kit and caboodle feels like it's been done on a shoestring budget but with a great deal of affection. Though the overall outcome is never in doubt, the film isn't entirely predictable and there's plenty here to enjoy as long as you're willing to give its heightened style a chance.
The much-maligned screenplay by Emma Thompson is something of a curio, delighting in the old-fashioned setting of the film. This allows her to indulge her passion for language, providing a script that can only work in the clipped tones of Received Pronunciation ("If there's one thing I can't stand, it's loose vowels."). The adults get some really chewy dialogue, while the kids get to complain that no-one understands them and to plot against the adults. Magic is treated as something utterly surprising, despite the bizarre setting of the film. The characterisation is a bit odd throughout. The kids are archaic archetypes that you'll have discovered in the books of Enid Blyton and those that went before. So they're all very clever but naughty and are categorised as the ringleader, the morbid one, the inventor, the chatterbox good girl, the baby and the ones that are too young to do anything of any note. The adults (with the exception of Mr Brown and his maid Evangeline) tend to be grotesque caricatures you normally only find in pantomimes. However as this is consistent across all supporting characters it works as a stylistic device. The father-children relationship is sweet and the romantic subplot predictable, but this is a kid's film after all.
Colin Firth plays to type as the caring but distracted head of the family. His bumbling is somewhat overstated for the part but he manages well enough in a role that could have been written for Dick Van Dyke in his heyday. He's a warm figure, who can convince as a dad to his film sprogs though his best scenes are when communing with his late wife. However he doesn't seem entirely comfortable with the heightened acting required by the film and has a tendency to look nonplussed occasionally. He's also lumbered with a terrible wig that looks like it might run off to savage the postman at any moment. Kelly Macdonald has been horribly miscast as Cockney sparrow Evangeline. Unable to keep the accent under control, she seems to spend all her time worrying about it instead of getting on with acting.
The other adults in the cast are all obviously having a whale of a time in their respective roles, rising to the challenge of camping it up as the film demands. Emma Thompson sets the tone with her big, stagy performance as the titular Nanny. Everything about it is deliberate and considered. She pushes herself up a notch, though never reaches the excesses of her Harry Potter character Professor Trelawney. She manages to be imperious even under several layers of prosthetics and also stern yet forgiving. Angela Lansbury makes her return to the big screen channelling the spirit of a sour-faced Lady Bracknell as the eeevil Great Aunt Adelaide. She's clearly enjoying herself and must have developed a taste for scenery with all the chewing on it she does. But she takes everything in good heart (including a pie in the face), sending up the character a treat. Celia Imrie is positively grotesque as the gold-digging Mrs Quickly; all banshee screeching and grand guignol sexuality that renders her absolutely terrifying to a child's eyes. Similarly OTT are Imelda Staunton as the family's militaristic cook and Derek Jacobi as a camp undertaker's assistant.
The kids in the cast are the usual brand of photogenic stage school children, who do well enough when they're being instead of acting. They work well as a group and have enough childlike wonder to compliment the magical undertones of the movie. None really stand out but ringleader James Sangster obviously made an impression on Emma Thompson when he appeared with her in "Love Actually". So he may have a bright future.
Patrick Doyle provides a big orchestral score that is heavy on the twinkling xylophones and chimes to give a magical air to the proceedings. It undermines some of the darker elements of the script in its use syrupy strings every time there's a moment of family togetherness. It also features playful clarinet that is thematically linked to the children and some formidable horn arrangements that precede Angela Lansbury's entrances. It's not a bad piece of work, but it feels a little overblown for a kids' film.
The effects in the film fall into two camps; physical and computer-generated. Both types tend towards the naïve in their execution. Though the prosthetic make-up effects work in the context of the movie, they're just too big to convince as real afflictions. Though it is interesting to note how they affect your perceptions of characters. The animatronic donkey that features prominently in one sequence looks like a failed prototype from the back of Jim Henson's Workshop. It's too clunky to stand up to scrutiny, which is unfortunate considering the screen-time it gets. The CGI is down-played throughout, there's little more than a few sprinkles of magic dust until you get to the grand finale. There it become over-ambitious and again doesn't hold up to close inspection. It's a shame it can't compare with the rather lovely animated end-credits.
"Nanny McPhee" is an old-fashioned kids' romp that may well be an acquired taste. Though reasonably well written and performed, the heightened reality may put grown-up viewers off. However, under-tens with a taste for magic will lap it up; accepting all the storybook clichés and taking it for what it is - good clean family fun.
Advantages: A DVD TO AWAKEN THE CHILD IN EVERYONE Disadvantages: NONE
...The cast;
EMMA THOMPSON, nanny mcphee COLIN FIRTH, Mr Brown ANGELA LANSBURY, auntie Adelaide Casting by, Michelle guish
Music by, Patrick Doyle, Costume designer, Nic Dee
Production designer, Michel Howells based on the book nurse Matilda books by Christiana brand screenplay Emma Thompson and produced by Lindsey Doran, Tim Bevan and Eric fellner, directed by Kirk Jones. The plot;
It starts with recently widowed Mr Brown(Colin firth of Bridget ... ...agency to recruit yet another nanny and the doors are suddenly locked and he is informed that there are no more nanny’s that are willing to look after his now well known children so he walks away and as he does that the letterbox of the letting agency open and says to him.
“THE PERSON YOU NEED IS NANNY MCPHEE”
To which he replies,
Excellent, I need her to start right away, as I am late for an important tea dance.
The voice in the letterbox said
...
bensnanny123 22.08.2007
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Nanny McPhee (DVD)
Advantages: Nice story, good acting from the children Disadvantages: Not as good as some childrens films, not enough to hold adults attention
Nanny McPhee was a popular children's film in 2005 and was released to DVD in February 2006. It is based on the Nurse Matilda stories written by Christianna Brand and has been adapted to the big screen by the actress Emma Thompson. In doing so she has also cast herself in the starring role (I guess it's one of the perks of being the screenwriter!) as Nanny McPhee.
The Plot
=========
This is the story of the Brown family. Mr Brown (played by Colin ... ...keep a chart of each nanny and how long it took for them to leave. The eldest child Simon (who was the boy in Love Actually) is the main instigator of the mischief although the others need very little encouragement to join in. As if this isn't enough for poor Mr Brown to contend with his rich Aunt is putting increasing pressure on him to find a new wife and mother for the children or she will withdraw the allowance that helps support his small wage ...
AJ26 04.06.2006
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Nanny McPhee (DVD)
Advantages: Some funny bits, good acting Disadvantages: Mainly for the kids, simple basic story
...of them - It was Nanny McPhee.
The story draws an obvious inspiration from that timeless classic , Mary Poppins since it tells the story of a nanny with strange magical powers that mysteriously arrives to bring the recently widowed Mr Brown's seven unruly children into line. However this is a more updated and modern story so the similarities between these two films are thankfully only fleeting. In fact, Nanny McPhee is actually based more on the ... ...successfully seeing off their seventeenth nanny in a row. Since losing their mother there are two things that they are certain of. They are having no nanny to boss them around and their father will not re-marry as they will not tolerate a wicked step mother under any circumstances.
On the face of things it appears that despite his unruly children Mr Brown has a big house and a good job at the funeral parlour but it soon becomes apparent that this ...
micksheff 03.01.2008
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Nanny McPhee (DVD)
Advantages: funny, entertaining Disadvantages: a bit predictable
...they strive to drive each nanny out more quickly than the previous one. Cedric is despairing and doesn't know what to do - especially as the nanny agency has run out of nannies. He also has the problem of his Aunt Adelaide (Angela Lansbury) who is a very uptight old woman, but who gives him a monthly allowance to pay the rent, as his job as an undertaker does not pay well enough to feed all of his children. Aunt Adelaide tells Cedric he must marry ... ...'The person you need is Nanny McPhee.' One night a mysterious woman arrives on his doorstep and announces herself to be Nanny McGhee (Emma Thompson). When Cedric asks who has sent her, she announces that she is a government nanny. Nanny McPhee has a rather frightening appearance, complete with warts and a large protruding tooth. On her first night she walks into the kitchen to greet the children and finds that they have tied up the cook Mrs Blatherwick ...
pink_champagne 02.04.2008
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Nanny McPhee (DVD)
Advantages: good for kids, magical. Disadvantages: -
...only.
■The Film■
Nanny McPhee was written by the leading lady, Emma Thompson, who is an established actress with a small script writing past. She adapted this from the Christianna Brand books about the character Nurse Matilda. Nanny McPhee was released back on January 27th 2005 with a well recogniseable cast with Emma Thompson, Colin Firth and others. The magical edge to the film was intruiging and the film was a pretty big success. ... ...to scare away 'the strictist nanny in town' on her way by telling her they had eaten the baby, she followed the sixteen nannies that Mr. Brown had tried to hire before then and the agency began to become wary of looking after his children. With him almost giving up as he cannot look after them and work at the same time. But his prayers are answered with Nanny McPhee. Some strange signs and constant messages saying 'the one you seek is Nanny McPhee' ...
danfellowes 13.06.2007
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Nanny McPhee (DVD)
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A recently widowed Mr Brown employs the services of a nanny in the hope that order will be restored to his household and his seven children. However, the children have other ideas having already dispatched seventeen nannies, who also thought that they knew better. Unfortunately the children have met their match, Nanny McPhee has special powers...
Nanny McPhee Makeover, Casting The Children, Deleted Scenes, Gag Reel, How Nanny McPhee Came To Be, Audio Documentaries
Aspect Ratio
2.35 Anamorphic Wide Screen
Sound
Dolby Digital 5.1
Dubbing Sound
Dolby Digital 5.1 English
Professional reviews
Review
An instant family favourite (Daily Express, )
A wickedly fun family adventure... Mary Poppins meets supernanny (Empire, )
A wonderful magical movie. A new classic for all the family. I loved it. (Film 2005 - Jonathan Ross, )
A slice of family fun that I guarantee your kids will think is simply magic (The Sun - Johnny Vaughan, )
DVD Description
A recently widowed Mr Brown employs the services of a nanny in the hope that order will be restored to his household and his seven children. However, the children have other ideas having already dispatched seventeen nannies, who also thought that they knew better. Unfortunately the children have met their match, Nanny McPhee has special powers...
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