>> NANNY MCPHEE
Magic seems to be in. What with Harry Potter mania and David Blaine stunts, I’m living in fear of another Paul Daniels comeback at any moment. Just pray we’ll be spared from Debbie McGee.
However, there’s undoubtedly room for more tales of magic if it’s of the Nanny McPhee variety. Armed with wit, this dark fable will take you on an enchanting journey with the most respected names in the British film industry.
Emma Thompson’s screenplay is based on the Nurse Matilda books written by Christianna Brand in the 1960s. Thompson last combined her acting and screenwriting talents in the 1995 adaptation of Sense and Sensibility, which landed her an Academy Award. Nanny McPhee might have a lot to live up to but with a cast like this bringing a timeless tale to life, the result should, indeed, be magical.
Colin Firth gets a break from playing the suave suitor to take the role of a widower with seven children whom even Supernanny wouldn’t have a hope in hell of dealing with. And who could be more perfect to appear in a movie about disobedient children and a magical nanny than Angela Lansbury? If there’s even a remote whiff of Bedknobs and Broomsticks about Nanny McPhee, it gets my vote.
Seven mischievous children? A widower? A nanny? Don’t worry - there won’t be a Von Trap in sight, nor any lederhosen or escapades over Austrian mountains. Nanny McPhee (Emma Thompson) is no singing nun: she is a startling figure of magical powers who takes on the formidable task of licking Mr Brown’s (Colin Firth) unruly offspring into shape. Refusing to become the eighteenth nanny the children have driven away, Nanny McPhee uses her talents to give their behaviour astonishing consequences.
And her influence doesn’t end there. No problem is too great for a nanny who makes Mary Poppins look inept. Nanny McPhee even handles the domineering Aunt Adelaide (Angela Lansbury) and Mr Brown’s difficulties in finding a new wife. With the changes in the household come strange alterations in Nanny McPhee’s appearance, raising questions about this mysterious figure the family have grown so attached to.
Though sharing parallels with other classic stories, Nanny McPhee is a fresh take on a winning formula, promising to absorb old and young with drama, humour and the best of British talent.
Beccy Matthews