Nanny McPhee

This was a pleasant surprise, much better than I anticipated. I figured Emma Thompson would be good in the title role because you can usually count on her to be entertaining in form or another, cerebrally, emotionally or comically. What I didn't figure on was the fun, extremely colorful story, overall. This was like a banana split for your senses - all kinds of wild treats for the eyes and ears.....to taste, so to speak.

This film features outrageous color schemes from the word "go," from the interior of the "Brown's" house, to everyone's apparel to the scenery outside. It almost reminded me "The Cat In The Hat" with its crazy colors.

All the characters are as exaggerated as the colors, too. The kids may be brats but they aren't bad once they get some needed discipline and love from Nanny McPhee. They are still fun to watch, and all are quite different in appearance and mannerisms. Thompson is a howl as Mary Poppins-like McPhee and so are the supporting characters. There were no sappy songs, either. This is not a musical.

The only character annoying to me was the kids' dad, played by Colin Firth. The actor was fine but his character was so wishy-washy, so wussy, he was barely tolerable for much of the film. By the way, you might not recognize the famous Angela Lansbury in here. Everyone, including her, must have had a great time filming this movie.

Only the final wedding segment got carried away with juvenile silliness; the rest was fun for adults and well as the kids, who must have loved this all the way through.

This is simply good entertainment and highly recommended.

I took my almost-4-year-old and her two cousins (age 3 and 6) to see this and we all had a wonderful time! The cast was outstanding - Colin Firth marvelously befuddled, Angela Lansbury wonderfully austere, Emma Thompson gruesomely wise and endearing, and all of the children sweet and mischievous without being cloying and horrible. It was clever and never "dumbed down" as some movies peddled as family fare are these days. This film was both funny and touching. The scenery and costumes were also wonderful to look at -lovely use of color. Some reviews have said that the movie tries too hard to appeal to adults, but I disagree. If preschoolers can enjoy it, most children will. I highly recommend it to audiences of all ages.

I took my children, ages 8 and 5, to see the movie over the weekend and I'd have to say that I enjoyed it every bit as much as they did. The character portrayed by Emma Thompson was simply wonderful. Even though she used her "magic" to get desired results from the children, all one had to do was look into her eyes and see the genuine compassion she felt for the children. The whole scenario with the fairy tale books and logic behind WHY the children misbehaved to much made them not nearly as bratty as one would have expected from such behavior and actually made me feel a bit sorry for them so they became almost likable in their attitudes. They weren't just "brats" for the sake of being brats; they had a genuine fear of losing their father which, ultimately would have happened had he married that harpie Mrs. Quimby.

My children absolutely loved the whole barnyard animal scene, especially the dancing donkey. Second to that was the food fight at the wedding. I found this movie to be appropriate for children of ALL ages and simply enjoyable for myself as well. I highly recommend this movie!!!

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.

I was very pleasantly surprised by how 'Nanny McPhee' turned out. I thought it was just another one of those family films but I was impressed all through and surprised as to how much I enjoyed it. There is a slight resemblance to 'Mary Poppins' but 'Nanny McPhee' is very much its own film. Emma Thompson is a talented writer and she shows great understanding of children's imagination. 'Loved how the spectacular world was created. It's colourful, extravagant, magical and funny. The lavish sets and designs are incredibly hypnotic.

Then there are actors like Emma Thompson (superb), Colin Firth (great) and Imelda Staunton (hilarious) who hardly ever let down. It was great to see the one and only Angela Lansbury after a very long time, this time in a slightly villainous role. These actors make their characters unique. The child actors are good in their parts and Kelly MacDonald has a nice screen presence.

What makes 'Nanny Mcphee' different is its sense of humour (that gives it its own charm and appeal) and the colourful world that it presents. I also liked the symbolic representation of Nanny McPhee's physical transformation as she successfully managed to get the children to learn the lessons. Emma Thompson wonderfully writes the screenplay as there is not one moment where I felt that the film dragged. Of course we have seen similar stories in films before but it's the presentation and treatment that makes the difference and 'Nanny Mcphee' is nothing short of a delightfully amusing family film.