Books becoming feature films isn’t exactly anything new in Hollywood, or anywhere else where there is a film industry for that matter, but recently a number of children’s books have been making the leap of the silver screen. Harry Potter really was the one that kicked that trend off in recent years, and that’s been followed by Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Misfortunate Events, a live action version of Charlotte’s Web, yet another retelling of My Friend Flicka, and the list grows even further and shows no signs of slowing.

Nanny McPhee may not necessarily be a name you know in literature, but the film itself is actually based on Christianna Brand’s Nurse Matilda series. The adaptation of the story introduces us to seven troubled children, the Brown’s. Their mother has died recently and their father Cedric (Colin Firth) has had a terrible time making ends meet, not to mention keeping things under control. While he’s been off at his job as a mortician, the children have been left with nanny’s to care for them, but they have run each and every one of them out of the home, turning it into something of a game.

Now that nanny number seventeen has been removed from the picture, the agency has no one else they can send, but Cedric is told that Nanny McPhee is the one that may be able to help. The problem is, she doesn’t work at the agency, no one knows exactly where she might be, but in the midst of yet another chaotic situation, there comes a knock at the door and it’s none other than McPhee (Emma Thompson) herself. She takes on the job of caring for the children and has informed them that there are five lessons she will teach them and also offers the children a rather cryptic phrase: When you need me, but do not want me, then I will stay. When you want me, but do not need me, then I have to go.

I really didn’t have much of a desire to see Nanny McPhee, but when you let your wife do the choosing at the video store on a Super Bowl Sunday (neither of us cares about watching sports in the least) sometimes you just have to make a sacrifice. However, what I found that Nanny McPhee actually wasn’t nearly as bad as I may have assumed it would be, and in fact not only is it a good children’s film, it’s really entertaining for us adults as well.

Just like one of the review quotes, Nanny McPhee is really something of a modern day version of Mary Poppins minus all of the song and dance whenever the whim strikes the characters. You see, McPhee has magical powers, something that she accomplishes by tapping her rather large cane on the ground when things are out of control. She first displays this when coming to the Brown home and finds the children running amuck in the kitchen. With her powers, she takes control of them and unless they find just the right things to say, not only will they stay doing demeaning tasks, the life of the youngest Brown, Agatha (Hebe Barnes and Zinnia Barnes) may be lost.

As the story moves forward, we notice a few drastic changes. McPhee herself comes to the home as a rather unattractive nanny. She has warts, a snaggletooth, and generally would fit the description of a witch, something that some of the children are convinced of while Simon (Thomas Sangster) thinks that she merely has mastered hypnosis. But, as the children begin to learn the lessons she wants to teach them and behave better, her physical appearance begins to improve. We also see the children changing their outlook as well and actually doing as they are told for once.

Thought it may seem that to some degree, the children take on the role of the villain in the film, that’s not necessarily true. Instead it is their Great Aunt Adelaide (Angela Lansbury) and although the wealthy woman has been providing some financial support, the also has made a decree that Cedric is to marry within a month or get nothing. She even agrees to help by lifting the burden and taking one of the children home for better education, and it seems she’s decided on daughter Chrissy (Holly Gibbs) but that’s where we get something of a predictable turn of events. One of the Brown’s servants, Evangeline (Kelly Macdonald) obviously is in love with Cedric and has been trying to get some help from the Brown children to better herself. She ends up going with Adelaide as one of the children and now Cedric is stuck with the possibility of having to marry a less than desirable woman, Mrs. Quickly (Celia Imrie) and it seems that she may be the children’s vision of the wicked stepmother they’ve read about in fairy tales. But, all tales like this have to have a happy ending.

Everything in Nanny McPhee really works perfectly together. The cast is ideal and works brilliantly together and the visuals that the film presents from start to finish are magnificent. The movie is never too colorful or fanciful for it’s own good, though it does have a bit of computer animation that could have been done just a little better, that being the dancing donkey seen in the film. Outside of that though, Nanny McPhee becomes a captivating yarn that is enjoyable from start to finish even though it really does have an ending that I think anyone can predict within the first 30-minutes or so of the film.

The DVD includes a number of special features, some of which may not appeal to younger fans of Nanny McPhee, but certainly will be something that others may have an interest in. The film includes two different commentary tracks, the first with director Kirk Jones as well as all the children in the film. The second commentary includes Emmy Thompson and the films producer Lindsay Doran. There is also a short that focuses on the children in Nanny McPhee and life for them on the set and with sets in mind, the “village” from the film is also the subject of a bonus short. You can see the make-over, if that’s what you want to call it, that Emma Thompson underwent for her role in the film, there is also a series of deleted scenes, a gag reel, and a brief bit on how the film came to be.

I guess once again I have to admit that there’s a family film that I have quite enjoyed, and Nanny McPhee is a movie that is certain to please every member of your family or close to it at least. It may not be the type of morality lesson that is going to help improve the behavior of your ill-behaved children if you have any, and that’s something that a good paddling will cure, but there are some good laughs, a lot of fun, and a memorable film that is certain to be popular for generations to come.

-mike-
 

Directed by: Kirk Jones   Written by: Emma Thompson Based Upon the Books by: Christianna Brand   Cast: Emma Thompson Colin Firth Angela Lansbury Kelly Macdonald Thomas Sangster Eliza Bennett Jennifer Rae Daykin Raphael Coleman Sam Honywood Holly Gibbs Hebe Barnes Zinnia Barnes

DVD Features: Audio: English, Spanish & French Dolby Digital 5.1 English, Spanish & French Subtitles Commentary w/Kirk Jones, Thomas Sangster Eliza Bennett, Jennifer Rae Daykin, Raphael Coleman, Sam Honywood & Holly Gibbs Commentary 2/Emma Thompson & Lindsay Doran Casting the Children Village Life Nanny McPHee Makeover Deleted Scenes Gag Reel How Nanny McPhee Came to Be