McPhee Wins My Vote Too
By Bryan Osborn
When President’s Day rolled around and my wife, children, and I found ourselves with a day off, we decided that we’d go see a movie. Wait a minute. That line seems really familiar.
Unbeknownst to either of us, Dennis and I went to see Nanny McPhee on the same day, at back-to-back showings. Let me echo Dennis’ statements. This is a delightful show if you have any portion of a kid left in your heart at all.
We ended up at the theater a little late and found our seats in the middle of the previews. Then, of course my kids had to have the obligatory bucket of popcorn. Needless to say, I missed the first couple of minutes of the show (I can’t wait until all theaters have an armchair ordering system I saw on TV or at least a pre-ordering system) No matter though; it was mere seconds before I was totally entranced.
In an attempt to get the attention of their widowed father (Colin Firth), seven deliberately naughty children chart their success in getting their nannies to resign their positions (usually running and screaming from the house). Finally, when the agency has run out of nannies, Nanny McPhee (delightfully played by Emma Thompson, who also wrote the screenplay) mysteriously arrives on the scene.
This situation is compounded by an edict from wealthy benefactress Great Aunt Adelaide (Angela Lansbury) who insists that the children must have a mother by the end of the month, else she will not support them any longer. With this income gone, Mr. Brown would be forced to sell the house and would then be sent to debtor’s prison. The children would then be split up and sent to orphanages. All of which Mr. Brown neglects to tell his children.
The way in which Nanny McPhee teaches the Brown children their “lessons” reminds me so much of my father. Instead of spoon feeding the answers to them, she allows them to experience the consequences of their actions and requires them to think through their own problems. In our house, when we asked my Dad how to do something, he would say something like, “Well, remember your physics here. How could you best apply a lever?” It drove me insane at the time, but I think I am better for it. By the way, he still does that today.
To keep this review balanced however, I will voice my only two very minor complaints. The first is the choice of color schemes for the Brown house. In an Edward-Scisorhands-esque palette, their home sticks out in stark contrast to the stodgy countryside (but perhaps that is the point). To me however, it tended to emphasize that this movie was just a fantasy and ripped me from the daydream. I tend to like fantastic elements that are embedded in a real world. This lets me believe, at least for two hours, that the story actually could have happened.
The only other issue that pulled me out of the McPhee universe was the CG animation of baby Brown’s mouth. While I understand that mouths are hard to animate, I just had a hard time believing that a baby could say the things it did. But hey, I loved the dancing donkey, so what do I know?
Overall, this was a delightful movie that I would love to see again. It was one of those rare movies that you leave wishing there was more. But there is! We were surprised to find out that the movie was an EXPERT adaptation of the Nurse Matilda
books written by Christianna Brand. On Sunday, we read the first six chapters and only stopped when it was time to eat dinner. When we finish, perhaps I’ll update you on that as well. Nanny McPhee expertly weaves together comedy, reality, and genuine storytelling. Do not miss this movie if you consider yourself young at heart.
Unbeknownst to either of us, Dennis and I went to see Nanny McPhee on the same day, at back-to-back showings. Let me echo Dennis’ statements. This is a delightful show if you have any portion of a kid left in your heart at all.
We ended up at the theater a little late and found our seats in the middle of the previews. Then, of course my kids had to have the obligatory bucket of popcorn. Needless to say, I missed the first couple of minutes of the show (I can’t wait until all theaters have an armchair ordering system I saw on TV or at least a pre-ordering system) No matter though; it was mere seconds before I was totally entranced.
In an attempt to get the attention of their widowed father (Colin Firth), seven deliberately naughty children chart their success in getting their nannies to resign their positions (usually running and screaming from the house). Finally, when the agency has run out of nannies, Nanny McPhee (delightfully played by Emma Thompson, who also wrote the screenplay) mysteriously arrives on the scene.
This situation is compounded by an edict from wealthy benefactress Great Aunt Adelaide (Angela Lansbury) who insists that the children must have a mother by the end of the month, else she will not support them any longer. With this income gone, Mr. Brown would be forced to sell the house and would then be sent to debtor’s prison. The children would then be split up and sent to orphanages. All of which Mr. Brown neglects to tell his children.
The way in which Nanny McPhee teaches the Brown children their “lessons” reminds me so much of my father. Instead of spoon feeding the answers to them, she allows them to experience the consequences of their actions and requires them to think through their own problems. In our house, when we asked my Dad how to do something, he would say something like, “Well, remember your physics here. How could you best apply a lever?” It drove me insane at the time, but I think I am better for it. By the way, he still does that today.
To keep this review balanced however, I will voice my only two very minor complaints. The first is the choice of color schemes for the Brown house. In an Edward-Scisorhands-esque palette, their home sticks out in stark contrast to the stodgy countryside (but perhaps that is the point). To me however, it tended to emphasize that this movie was just a fantasy and ripped me from the daydream. I tend to like fantastic elements that are embedded in a real world. This lets me believe, at least for two hours, that the story actually could have happened.
The only other issue that pulled me out of the McPhee universe was the CG animation of baby Brown’s mouth. While I understand that mouths are hard to animate, I just had a hard time believing that a baby could say the things it did. But hey, I loved the dancing donkey, so what do I know?
Overall, this was a delightful movie that I would love to see again. It was one of those rare movies that you leave wishing there was more. But there is! We were surprised to find out that the movie was an EXPERT adaptation of the Nurse Matilda
books written by Christianna Brand. On Sunday, we read the first six chapters and only stopped when it was time to eat dinner. When we finish, perhaps I’ll update you on that as well. Nanny McPhee expertly weaves together comedy, reality, and genuine storytelling. Do not miss this movie if you consider yourself young at heart.
I have a new love! No, nothing my wife should be worried about. Actually, it's her new love too. For Christmas she gave me the movie 
On the other hand it's depressing that I and just about the rest of the world missed this show when it was on the air and when our viewership could have kept it on the air. As a result, all we have is an abbreviated series and a movie. All of which is excellent, but it could have been so much more.
It seems like when Fox doesn't have faith in a show, they have no desire to promote it or put it in a time slot that will promote a following. Instead they move it around from night to night until it ends up on one of the poorest nights for T.V. and then pre-empt the heck out of it with sporting events until it becomes impossible for any reasonable person to keep up with it.
When President’s Day rolled around and my wife, daughters and I found ourselves with a day off, we decided that we’d go see a movie. The options boiled down to two: Curious George and Nanny McPhee. 
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