Nanny McPhee

Nanny McPhee – In Victorian England, widowed undertaker Mr Brown is having trouble getting anyone to look after his large amount of unruly children. The children see each nanny as a challange and compete to scare them off as soon as possible. But unknown to the children, Mr Brown is reliant on financial aid from a hardnosed Aunt who insists he must remarry or she will cut him off and the family will break up. Nanny McPhee suddenly appears and promises to bring the children in line, and she has a mysterious air about her. Can the children be taught to behave, or will they continue to drive away people from the house without realising they are sealing their fate?

Nanny McPhee (2005) – Director: Kirk Jones

Rating: U

Running Length: 97 minutes

Starring: Emma Thompson, Colin Firth, Angela Lansbury

Genre: Comedy

REVIEW: ‘NANNY MCPHEE’

Based on the Nurse Matilda books written by Christianna Brand, ‘Nanny McPhee’ stars Emma Thompson as the no-nonsense and just a bit magical Nanny. Thompson (who also wrote the script) plays the role as somewhat of an anti-Mary Poppins. There are no song and dance numbers here. The children are many and unruly, and ‘Nanny McPhee’ uses a minimal but powerful presence to turn any intended prank back on them again.

After a somewhat chaotic opening, the movie does flap around in ‘kids movie’ territory: high energy and lots of noise! Colin Firth continues to play ‘exasperated’ extremely well and the hurt determination of Thomas Brodie-Sangster (as the eldest child) sets the scene for clashes to come. Unlike Poppins, who arrives with a flutter of her umbrella, Nanny McPhee’s thunderous knock on the door during a tempestuous storm signifies the tone here. The children, led by Sangster, try to push her buttons, only to find she is teaching them manners and respect in return.

The colourful ‘kiddy’ bits are all good fare for children, but there is enough genuine emotion and sweetness to mean that ‘Nanny McPhee’ doesn’t grate on adult senses. The fact that Firth’s character is a widower adds for emotive depth and constant references to his late wife’s chair have powerful gravitas. Similarly, once the second Act closes with all characters on the same page, the pulling together of family makes for an all out fun catharsis of the closing 20 minutes. Throw in a truly nasty performance from Celia Imrie (who gets her due!) and the snooty and oblivious Great Aunt Adelaide Snitch (Angela Lansbury) and the bubbling concoction works delightfully. Even if the first 15 minutes are an assault to the senses, once Nanny McPhee herself appears, warts and all, this movie finds an excellent and entertaining groove for all.

CONTENT: IS ‘NANNY MCPHEE’ SUITABLE FOR CHILDREN?

A character checks in on the children and screams, “They’ve eaten the baby!” The children are gnawing on things like a chicken leg with a baby shoe. The baby is in a casserole dish with bits of cabbage and gravy surrounding it. It’s clear quickly that they aren’t eating the baby but the fact the adult believes it may upset some children.

A teddy is put into a guillotine and it’s head is chopped off.

One child says bitterly of his father that, “He’s had a lot on his mind since mother died. All he cares about now is getting himself a nice new wife.”

The guillotine from earlier is used to decapitate other dolls

A father talks to his dead wife’s chair. He says that unless their circumstances improve then “It’s debtors prison for me, workhouse for the older children.”

A child smack’s the cook round the back of the head with a saucepan. This is treated comically but may be imitable.

A dramatic knock on a door shows a silhouette of Nanny McPhee. The lights flicker and lightning crackles. There is a series of quick close ups of her protruding tooth, hideous wart, and bulbous nose.

The children are creating chaos in a kitchen. A spell makes them carry on without being able to stop and they become distressed. One puts the baby on a catapult without being able to stop. They beg for the magic to end but it only will once they obey.

The children pretend to be sick and introduce themselves with rude made up names such as: “Oblington Fartworthy”, “Knickers O’Muffin.” “Booger McHorsefanny”, and “Bum!” to which another child argues,  “I’m Bum!” Another shouts,  “Bosoms!” and the baby gurgles the word “Bum” as well. Another child corrects to say “Poop.” to which another replies “Poop Bum.”. Obviously this is a very comedic scene but your children may start repeating all this!

The father works at a funeral home. There is such dialogue as, “There’s a rush on at the mortuary. A bout of influenza carry off all the old folks. What’s bad for them is good for us, poor things.” There is a dead body on a table and the father talks to it normally.

One character is given revolting medicine and is disgusted. We mention this for children who hate taking their medicine!

A snobby and horrible aunt decides she has to take one of the father’s children which causes the family distress. The children try to get around this by dressing a donkey up as the girl. The scene is funny but we mention this in case children try to forcibly dress animals.

A horse is whipped to make it move.

During a scene were one woman is trying to seduce the father and he is is reluctantly being polite the children are also trying to sabotage the meeting. We have already seen that the woman is greedy and believes that the match will make her rich but none of the other characters know that. The father thumps the chair of their deceased mother in order to stop the children attacking the woman and one child is hit by it and falls over. The children put a spider in the woman’s hair. The father launches himself at her to avoid her seeing the attacks and she says, “passion is in your nature!”. The children put bugs in her food and she eats a worm. There is frogspawn in her tea and a frog in the teapot. The father pushes the woman over to avoid sitting on jelly. She takes this as a romantic advance and says, “Not here, over the cutlery!” One trap means that the father is electrocuted and he vibrates over the woman, and goes on his knees to her crotch. However, when she is receptive to his perceived advances and then says no, she slaps him and says he is a, “bounder and cad.”

One reveal scene is an emotional chat with the father and the children where he admits their financial situation and that they will likely all be separated. The children sob but this scene is not overly lingered upon.

There is a sad scene where the children remember their dead mother. One character says, “Do you think mama still thinks about us where she is?” This is overlaid with soft female singing and gentle music.

Just before a wedding scene the woman who is set to marry the father cruelly says she is charge. She snatches the baby’s rattle which has been said throughout the film to be the only thing the children have left of their dead mother. The baby cries and the woman sneers, “I’m your mother now.” She snaps the rattle and the children are shocked.

The wedding descends into a huge food fight, which might be very imitable!

One character’s misunderstanding of who people are means that when a romantic interest is shown she splutters the word, ‘incest?!’ in disgust.

CAN I SEE A CLIP?

VERDICT: IS ‘NANNY MCPHEE’ FOR KIDS?

‘Nanny McPhee’ is definitely designed with kids in mind. Taken literally there are some nasty or disgusting parts but in all likelihood they will be taken with the fun, tongue in cheek in which they are intended. With some emotive parts and lots of ‘naughty’ behaviour we would recommend this movie as suitable for all ages (depending on parental discretion)!

• Violence: 0/5
• Emotional Distress: 2/5 (Some sad scenes when talking about the family’s deceased mother)
• Fear Factor: 0/5
• Sexual Content: 1/5 (infrequent mild innuendo
• Bad Language: 1/5 (infrequent childish insults)
• Dialogue: 2/5 (One character says, “I wonder how long it will take for us to die.” One character exclaims, “Witch!” and “Witchcraft!” During one scene there is comic misunderstanding about the words “tart” and “some common tart” which is a term used as a insult to women as well as a food. One character mentions that things are “to satisfy man’s carnal desires.”)
• Other Notes: Deals with themes of single parenting, making compromise due to financial pressure, not knowing both sides of the story, protecting children from harsh truths, workaholic behaviour, playing pranks, and wanting what is best for family.

Words by Michael Record

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