Nanny McPhee

Rating: 4/5

From the outside, Nanny McPhee may not seem like a film for adults, but it is a surprisingly heartwarming tale.

Cedric Brown (Collin Firth) is a newly widowed father of seven. His kids adored their mother, and were also used to getting practically everything they wanted. Since her passing, the children, lead by Simon (Thomas Brodie-Sangster) the eldest, have frightened away seventeen nannies, and are determined to keep them all away. At his wits end, Cedric worries that he is doomed to lead a life where his out of control children will rule his every moment.

While making one final plea to the nanny service, Cedric hears a whisper of the name Nanny McPhee (Emma Thompson), but thinks nothing of it, that is until she unexpectedly appears at his doorstep. Nanny McPhee is quick to get to work and not only teach the children her five basic lessons, but help out their father in the process. Her methods are nothing short of unusual, and it is no big surprise when the kids don't immediately take a liking to her and attempt to scare her away. Little do they know that it will take more than a simple trick to get rid of Nanny McPhee.

Nanny McPhee is really a much better film than one would expect. If you are judging the film solely on clips or trailers you may have seen, it would be easy to assume that the movie is just filled with chaos and bizarre magic, including the type that causes a donkey to dance. In all fairness, there is quite the collection of that type of material in the film, but there is much more than what meets the eye. At first, the movie is a bit shocking what with the colors of the home and the volume of the children, but hidden beneath that garish style, is a movie with a lot of heart and enchantment.

For this movie to be a success, the actors playing the children had to be adorable but not obnoxious. Overall, the performances by the kids are excellent, even if they are a bit over exaggerated at times. Thomas Brodie-Sangster, who plays Simon, is a brilliant little actor, and to see him battle with Nanny McPhee and desperately try and have a relationship with his emotionally distant father, are some of the most impressive scenes in the film. It is in huge part to his work that Nanny McPhee becomes more than just a silly kids movie.

I have started to come to the conclusion that there's really very little that Emma Thompson cannot do. Her character is so heavily done up in prosthetics and makeup, that you'd think her acting would get lost beneath it all, but her impeccable skill manages to shine through and become a very stern but caring persona. It is clear to see that this film holds a large place in Thompson's heart, and that she took that love for the story to put every ounce of dedication into it she had.

Nanny McPhee is a movie that took me by surprise. Based on the little of what I had seen of it before watching the whole thing, I honestly didn't expect to like it, but it ended up becoming one of my more beloved children's movies. It is a bit off-putting at times, but in the end, it is truly wonderful.