Emma Thompson fearlessly works with seven children and a barnyard of animals -- not to mention ugly-face make-up -- and she never once is upstaged.
My only complaint is about Colin Firth, who has a thankless role, but I've never found him all that interesting anyway.
My 9-year-old daughter, an avid Harry Potter fan, enjoyed the magic of the story and its rich layers of morality. At a key moment, creative obedience to an adult instruction leads to a slapstick showdown that delighted every kid in the theater, including me.
There are moments of peril and cruelty, a villain worthy of Dickens, even corpses in the father's place of business, but nothing presented here is worse than everyday life that all children endure. One of the most poetic understatements in any kid film occurs with the first shot: an empty chair, once occupied by a loving mother.
Nanny McPhee arrives to teach the unruly children, but the grown-ups have the most to learn about loss, honesty, and true love.
