Review: Nanny McPhee
DVD: Nanny McPhee (2005)
Recently widowed Mr Brown (Colin Firth) is finding it difficult to find a nanny who can control his 7 unruly children and begins to lose all hope when the 17th nanny he’s employed flees from the family home in distress.
Enter the enigmatic Nanny McPhee (Emma Thompson), a woman of quite singular nature and appearance who sweeps into their lives akin to an intimidating wart covered Mary Poppins, all while wielding a magical walking stick that casts spells none of the children can avoid.
A charming (yet completely predictable) narrative has naughty kids being naughty (can you guess if they stay being naughty?), tales of finding true love, some slapstick humour, and a dancing donkey wearing a straw hat and a dress…okay, so it isn’t all predictable.
A passion project of Emma Thompson (she wrote the screenplay for Nanny McPhee over a period of 9 years, based on the book ‘Nurse Matilda’ by Christianna Brand, first published in 1964), her love of the core material shines through in a great central performance, which is accentuated by some great prosthetic effects…all the more appreciated when seeing how subtle the transformations throughout the movie were when watching one of the very entertaining special features.
A one word review could well have been “charming”.
Definitely a fun film for all the family to enjoy.
SPECIAL FEATURES:
- Feature Commentary with Director Kirk Jones and Children.
- Feature Commentary with Producer Lindsay Doran and Emma Thompson.
- Casting the Children
- Village Life
- Nanny McPhee Makeover
- Deleted Scenes
- Gag Reel
- How Nanny McPhee Came to Be
Released August 28th.
Review by Dave from a disc kindly supplied by Fabulous Films.
