Nanny McPhee [WS]

Director: Kirk Jones Kirk Jones

Overview

A nanny reveals ways of making children behave that are much more effective than a time-out in this fantasy comedy based on the "Nurse Matilda" books for children by Christianna Brand. Near the dawn of the twentieth century, Mr. Brown (Colin Firth) is a widower who must tend to his business as an undertaker while looking after his brood of seven children. Brown's offspring are a singularly ill-mannered lot who have managed to drive away 17 different nannies when their father arranges for one Nanny McPhee (Emma Thompson) to help out with the children. McPhee is an strange looking woman with a large nose, protruding teeth, and pock-marked skin, but it isn't long before the kids realize she has magical powers and isn't afraid to use them to help keep them in line. While the children aren't taken with McPhee's insistence on such things as saying "please" and listening to their elders, it becomes clear everyone has bigger things to worry about. Aunt Adelaide (Angela Lansbury) has insisted that if Mr. Brown cannot find a new wife within a month, she'll take custody of one of the children and cut off Brown's inheritance, and while Brown and the widow Mrs. Quickly (Celia Imrie) seem fond of one another, his ineptitude in courtship seems to insure he'll never get her to the altar. But while the Brown Children realize Nanny McPhee is a formidable opponent, she can also be a valuable ally as they learn to make use of her talents by being better children; they also discover that as they behave better, she begins to look less frightening. Emma Thompson, who played the title role in Nanny McPhee, also wrote the film's screenplay.

Product Details

Release Date:	05/09/2006
UPC:	0025192630927
Original Release:	2005
Rating:	PG
Source:	STUDIO DISTRIBUTION SERVS LLC
Region Code:	1
Sound:	[Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround]
Language:	English
Time:	1:39:00
Sales rank:	27,683

Special Features

Closed Caption;Hilarious gag reel; Seven deleted scenes including an alternate opening; Village Life: The behind-the-scenes mysteries of creating the fantastic sets are revealed; Nanny McPhee Makeover: See Emma Thompson's magical transformation into the homely Nanny McPhee, snaggletooth and all

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

Emma Thompson	Nanny McPhee
Colin Firth	Mr. Brown
Kelly Macdonald	Evangeline
Thomas Brodie-Sangster	Simon
Eliza Bennett	Tora
Jennifer Rae Daykin	Lily
Raphaël Coleman	Eric
Hebe Barnes	Baby Agatha,Baby Agatha
Samuel Honywood	Sebastian
Angela Lansbury	Aunt Adelaide
Holly Gibbs	Christianna
Imelda Staunton	Mrs. Blatherwick
Elizabeth Berrington	Letita
Derek Jacobi	Mr. Wheen
Celia Imrie	Mrs. Quickly
Patrick Barlow	Mr. Jowls
Adam Godley	Vicar
Phyllida Law	Mrs. Partridge (voice)
Freya Fumic	The Voice of Baby Agatha (voice)
Thomas Sangster	Simon Brown
Jenny Daykin	Lily
Patrick Doyle	Composer

Technical Credits

Emma Thompson

Tim Bevan	Producer
Eric Fellner	Producer
Kirk Jones	Director
Lindsay Doran	Producer
Debra Hayward	Executive Producer
Liza Chasin	Executive Producer
Emma Thompson	Screenwriter
Michelle Guish	Casting
Simon Hayes	Sound/Sound Designer

Editorial Reviews

There's a saying -- or, there should be -- that you can judge a family film by the quality of its moppets. Child actors who are both cute and talented are a must, or else even the world's best story might end up on the scrap heap. Kirk Jones' Nanny McPhee has all the makings of classic material, then: a timeless story, a delightful cast of precocious children, a truly magical production design, and the cream of the crop among adult actors. (As one of those actors, Emma Thompson's presence isn't surprising, given that she adapted the screenplay from Christianna Brand's Nurse Matilda books.) Nanny McPhee contains the perfect blend of the whimsical and the macabre, in keeping with an age-old fairy-tale tradition. The story certainly features details that require a delicate touch, namely, a child who decapitates dolls with a guillotine, and a parent (Colin Firth) who works in a funeral parlor. But because Thompson and Jones keep the tone lightly absurd, these elements are not too scary for younger children. Nor is Thompson's creepy title character, whose methods walk the line between strictness and malevolence, and whose appearance is a makeup artist's dream of prosthetic nastiness. Of course, the story eventually boasts great warmth and compassion as its lessons unfold, particularly during the delicious conclusion -- "delicious" quite literally, as the characters become spattered with colorful gobs of cake icing. In addition to Firth, Thompson and the children (led by Love Actually's Thomas Sangster), two others deserve special mention: Kelly MacDonald as the Browns' darling scullery maid, and Angela Lansbury, hilarious as the stuffy old coot who dictates their fortunes. Thompson's character explains that when the children start wanting her rather than needing her, it's time for her to move on. Indeed, Nanny McPhee leaves its viewers wanting more, too.