Nanny McPhee [DVD] [2005]

Her latest challenge is the bratty brood of a recent widower Mr. Brown (Colin Firth), who's under pressure to find a new wife or lose his much-needed allowance from wealthy Aunt Adelaide (a tailor-made role for Angela Lansbury). His love for scullery maid Evangeline (Kelly Macdonald) remains unspoken as he wincingly woos the eagerly merry widow Mrs. Quickly (Celia Imrie), but Brown's raucous rugrats have a plan to make things right, especially after they've come under the benevolent influence of Nanny McPhee, whose peculiar brand of discipline works wonders for everyone involved.

Both quintessentially British and universally appealing, this wildly colourful comedy (thanks to a bold palette of costume and production design) was capably directed by Kirk Jones, whose appreciation for comic actors was equally apparent in his critically acclaimed 1998 comedy Waking Ned. With just a hint of darkness to offset the whimsy, Nanny McPhee offers a splendid match of director, cast and material, guaranteed to please Wallace & Gromit fans and anyone else with a taste for British zaniness.-- Jeff Shannon

Her latest challenge is the bratty brood of a recent widower Mr. Brown (Colin Firth), who's under pressure to find a new wife or lose his much-needed allowance from wealthy Aunt Adelaide (a tailor-made role for Angela Lansbury). His love for scullery maid Evangeline (Kelly Macdonald) remains unspoken as he wincingly woos the eagerly merry widow Mrs. Quickly (Celia Imrie), but Brown's raucous rugrats have a plan to make things right, especially after they've come under the benevolent influence of Nanny McPhee, whose peculiar brand of discipline works wonders for everyone involved.

Both quintessentially British and universally appealing, this wildly colourful comedy (thanks to a bold palette of costume and production design) was capably directed by Kirk Jones, whose appreciation for comic actors was equally apparent in his critically acclaimed 1998 comedy Waking Ned. With just a hint of darkness to offset the whimsy, Nanny McPhee offers a splendid match of director, cast and material, guaranteed to please Wallace & Gromit fans and anyone else with a taste for British zaniness.-- Jeff Shannon

I loved the fairytale romance of poor girl falling in love with "rich" man (not)and the nastyness that is Ceilia Emry (who was excellent!)playing Colin Firths love interest. The ending brought a tear to my eyes, but the bit before then end also brought tears to my eyes but through laughter. It was magical, just like reading the ladybird book of Cinderella!!

The men in my life loved the naughtyness of the story, the comedy and the sheer fun. A truly wonderful peice of screenplay by Emma Thompson and a wonderful actress, who appeared to enjoy playing Nanny McPhee as we did watching.

The Donkey of course was wonderful as well (so as not to forget him!!)

Great film, one for keeps, from little girls and boys to the big grown up versions, a must. Rush and order it now!!!

You can tell I loved it!!!!


This is how I work ....   March 20, 2006
Spy Groove (New Zealand)
21 out of 22 found this review helpful

I thought I was going to see a modified Mary Poppins but ... it is so much better. If Mary was a jolly, magical, sweet nanny, Mc Phee was ugly, menacing but also magical. And the kids were more in number and more incorrigible (which reminds me of Von Trapp children).

What struck me as ingenious is how the nanny became less ugly each time the kids learn something from her lessons. The idea of reflecting the children's behaviour on the nanny's face is certainly not from Poppins. In that way, the children could see the result of their own making without being too self-conscious. Nanny McPhee didn't try to sweeten the bitter medicine, but she made them see how to accept consequences and be creative about it.

I have not read Nurse Matilda but I like the movie because the magic was very beautiful. Ms. Thompson has done two very great jobs, as the nanny and screenwriter.


Nanny McPhee   November 27, 2005
45 out of 48 found this review helpful

What an enchanting story....didn't want it to end. Every house with little horrors needs Nanny McPhee! She's cool calm and collected and has a trick for every occasion. The children are horrible...their father is dithery...their great aunt a menace...their prospective stepmother vile.....their scullery maid beautiful....and then there's the horribly ugly Nanny McPhee. These are the ingredients for a fabulous story filled with nothing but magical joy!! A must for everyone who loves a happy ending....!! My daughter can't wait for the next one......please let there be more!!


Mary Poppins, eat your heart out!   February 2, 2006
14 out of 15 found this review helpful

I went to see this movie at the the cinema with my friends - my best friend's 18-yr-old boyfrind was slightly embarrased at going to see a "kids" moive, but he came out raving as mush as the rest of us!!
The storyline is lovely; and it has refreshingly upright morals as well. Emma Thompson is fantastic as the magical nanny, and Colin Firth is as sweet as ever as the children's father. The children themselves do not come across as precocious brats, and the eldest is, I'm sure, one of Britain's up-and-coming stars. He'll be around for a while yet!
Enjoyable for all the family. Well worth a second viewing... even a third, fourth or fifth, come to that!!


Nanny McPerfect   November 1, 2007
Andrew Kyle (Glasgow, Scotland)
5 out of 5 found this review helpful

Oh ho. Your initial reaction would be - whats a 24 year old liking a film like this for? It's a kids film, and its not right for a twentysomething young adult male to like this sort of thing. Well, I say sod you then. For I loved Nanny McPhee, hands down. I thought the story, the acting, the comedy, the music, it was all spot on and it takes its place rightly up there with my most favourite films. Sorry.
Let us start on the plot. Okay, so it seems from a distance to be a rip off of Mary Poppins. Its not at all like the it, though. Don't let anyone suggest it. Yes, its about a Nanny, and yes, it's a family film that pushes all the right buttons, but no, its not the same thing. Good, that's that over with. It's a fantastically traditional fairy tale with all the right ingredients - wicked stepmother, kids, handsome prince and absolutely stunning princess. Only they're not prince and princess, they're adoring father and cuddle-able scullery maid.
Colin Firth exudes so much charm that I challenge the most hardened cynic not to smile at his fumbling persona and...niceness. Kelly MacDonald is superb as the maid who adores the kids and thinks that the poor father simply doesn't notice her (which is obviously not true). In fact, let me stand up for myself a little. Accuse me of being an old romantic because this film makes me cry - but in defence of my masculinity, I think Evangeline is quite simply stunning, gorgeous, beautiful, hot, fantastic...I could list every word in the thesaurus, but I shall not.
Guest appearances from Derek Jacobi, Imelda Staunton and even Angela Lansbury simply pepper the supporting ensemble with brilliance. But I'm now going to wax lyrical about the simply divine Emma Thompson. Starting off in the film as a witchy nanny with warts, a big nose and a rather rotund behind, she loses her ugliness as the film progresses in accordance with the movement of the plot, and as she does so starts to display that wonderfulness that you come to expect from her. Her performance is a classic - up there with Julie Andrews in Mary Poppins, Maggie Smith in Hook, the Pigeon Lady from Home Alone 2; those women that you remember from your childhood film watching and smile and feel that warm buzzy feeling. I only hope that some kids of this generation remember Emma's wonderful character.
Nanny McPhee, in my eyes, is one of those very rare things. A modern classic. I cannot praise it more. It's a whole five stars. Ten out of ten. I can't fault it. Not even for a second.
I've seen it several times. I've cried in happiness, every single time. Call me pathetic, but...sometimes a good old fairy tale with a happy ending is exactly what we need.