Not ‘Mary Poppins’
Published 9:00 pm Thursday, January 26, 2006
Since I work from the prejudiced opinion that Emma Thompson can do no wrong, it is hardly surprising that “Nanny McPhee,” a family film written by and starring Ms. Thompson, is something close to a hoot.
The film was inspired by a series of children’s books by Christianna Brand about a nanny called Nurse Matilda. As reworked by Thompson, the character is no Mary Poppins, but she does have certain magical powers.
| British humor: Lively family film about a grotesque-looking but magical nanny (Emma Thompson) who tends seven holy terrors for a harried widower (Colin Firth). The high spirits have a distinctly British sense of humor, not the smiley-face kiddie fare of too many Hollywood films.
Rated: PG rating is for subject matter Now showing: Everett 9, Galaxy, Loews, Marysville, Mountlake, Meridian, Oak Tree, Woodinville, Cascade |
From the beginning, the movie operates in a not-real zone of fairy tale. A widower named Mr. Brown (Colin Firth, doing solid, put-upon comic work) lives with his seven rambunctious children in an old shoe – er, rambling mansion. He can’t keep a nanny employed because the kids are frankly frightening. They’ve just chased the latest nanny away by pretending to cook the baby in a stew.
This is when Nanny McPhee arrives. It takes a moment to recognize Emma Thompson here, since she is covered in warts, sports a bulbous nose, and has a lone buck tooth sticking out from under her upper lip.
Nanny McPhee is unperturbed by the seven little terrors, and calmly announces that they will behave. The magical powers contained in her walking stick are of considerable help here.
The film’s main subplot has Mr. Brown’s wicked, wealthy aunt (Angela Lansbury, inspired casting) threatening to cut off her financial support of the family unless he marries a dreadful society lady (Celia Imrie). This, despite the obvious appeal of his scullery maid (Kelly Macdonald).
Director Kirk Jones, who hasn’t made a film since “Waking Ned Devine,” imagines this story (perhaps a little too aggressively) as a splashy carnival of colors and noise. He keeps the energy level high, though in the process misses a level of sweetness that great children’s stories have.
Thompson is fun to watch, especially her unnatural stillness, and her grotesque make-up is truly unpleasant. (She does clean up a bit as the film goes along.) It takes fearlessness as an actor to look this bad, but Thompson has never seemed overly concerned with glamour.
“Nanny McPhee” has enough crazy stuff to keep kids happy and it won’t bore adults, though it should be noted that this is sly British humor of the Roald Dahl variety, not the smiley-face blandness of too many kiddie films. It makes a lively stew.
LEFT: Emma Thompson as Nanny McPhee confronts the monstrously behaved Brown children (front to back) Sebastian (Sam Honywood), Christianna (Holly Gibbs), Lily (Jennifer Rae Daykin), Eric (Raphael Coleman), Agatha (Hebe and Zinnia Barnes), Tora (Eliza Bennett) and Simon (Thomas Sangster) in “Nanny McPhee.”
Beleaguered father Mr. Brown (Colin Firth) and the imperious Aunt Adelaide (Angela Lansbury) in “Nanny McPhee.”
