"NANNY McPHEE RETURNS" (2010) (Emma Thompson, Maggie Gyllenhaal) (PG) Alcohol/ Drugs Blood/Gore Disrespectful/ Bad Attitude Frightening/ Tense Scenes Guns/ Weapons None Moderate Heavy Moderate Moderate Imitative Behavior Jump Scenes Music (Scary/Tense) Music (Inappropriate) Profanity Heavy Moderate Moderate None Minor Sex/ Nudity Smoking Tense Family Scenes Topics To Talk About Violence Minor None Heavy Heavy Moderate QUICK TAKE: Drama: In World War II England, a magical nanny agrees to help a mother care for five unruly children and save her husband's farm. PLOT: In World War II England, Isabel Green (MAGGIE GYLLENHAAL) is a harried mother of three pre-teen children named Vincent (OSCAR STEER), Norman (ASA BUTTERFIELD), and Megsie (LIL WOODS). Her husband is away at war, and the family farm is threatened with foreclosure. Matters are made worse when the kids crooked Uncle Phil (RHYS IFANS) literally bets the farm and loses. Isabel's stress level goes through the roof when her wealthy sister sends her two children, Cyril (EROS VLAHOS) and Celia (ROSIE TAYLOR-RITSON), to live with her so they won't be in harm's way as London continues to be bombed by the Nazis. The two city kids clash with the three farm children, and it's all Isabel can do to keep them in order and remain employed at Mrs. Docherty's (MAGGIE SMITH) local store. Into all their lives comes the enigmatic Nanny McPhee (EMMA THOMPSON), a magical caregiver with a number of facial deformities (two moles, a uni-brow, one buck tooth). She teaches the kids the virtues of cooperation, sharing, and faith employing a variety of magic tricks and spells. Soon, the kids are working together to try and save the farm and keep their family together. WILL KIDS WANT TO SEE IT? Absolutely. The film plays especially well for kids age 5 to 12 and young teens who were younger when the first film debuted in 2005. WHY THE MPAA RATED IT: PG For rude humor, some language and mild thematic elements. CAST AS ROLE MODELS: EMMA THOMPSON plays a magical nanny with the power to stop time, command animals, levitate objects, affect the weather, and drive at excessively high rates of speed without crashing. She is a strict disciplinarian, but is a generally wise and nurturing caregiver. MAGGIE GYLLENHAAL plays a good-hearted, but harried mother of three children whose husband is away fighting in World War II. She is under enormous financial stress and does her best to avoid the manipulations of her brother who wants her to sell the family farm. RHYS IFANS plays her scheming brother who has literally bet the farm and lost it. He is not above manipulating his sister and young nephews and niece to get what he wants, at one point even making them believe their husband/father has been killed in action. MAGGIE SMITH plays a local shop owner who employs Isabel. She is elderly and her senility is portrayed to mostly comic effect. ASA BUTTERFIELD plays Isabel's oldest son, who tries to take a leadership role on the family farm. He clashes with his two rich cousins, who have been sent to live on the farm to avoid the Nazi attacks on London. LIL WOODS plays Isabel's only daughter, who also bickers with her two rich cousins from the city. NORMAN STEER plays Isabel's youngest son. EROS VLAHOS plays a rich, snobby kid from London who looks down on his aunt and cousins for living on a modest farm in the countryside. He is frequently uncooperative and very disrespectful of the Green family's home and possessions. Much of his anger, though, comes from a difficult home life in which his two parents are on the verge of divorce. ROSIE TAYLOR-RITSON plays a rich, snobby girl from London who also looks down on her aunt and cousins for their poor, rural lifestyle. She is very materialistic and is particularly obsessed with her fancy clothes and shoes. She is also affected by her parents' marital difficulties. SINEAD MATTHEWS and KATY BRAND play local debt collectors who threaten Phil's life and vital organs when he has trouble paying off his debts to a local criminal. The two brutish women first vow to remove his kidneys if he doesn't sign over the farm, then threaten to kill him and stuff him. CAST, CREW, & TECHNICAL INFO HOW OTHERS RATED THIS MOVIE Curious if this title is entertaining, any good, and/or has any artistic merit? Then read OUR TAKE of this film. (Note: The "Our Take" review of this title examines the film's artistic merits and does not take into account any of the possibly objectionable material listed below). OUR WORD TO PARENTS: The following is a brief summary of the content found in this family drama that has been rated PG. There's brief profanity, and the children call each other a variety of names and hurl insults at each other (particularly in the first half of the film) that mostly have to do with class differences. Violence consists mostly of kids rough-housing, followed by a magical nanny casting a spell over them that forces each to hit and otherwise harm themselves. This is played mostly for slapstick comic effect with no blood. A crooked uncle's life is threatened by two female debt collectors who comically push him around. At the same time, there is much talk of war and bombs being dropped on London and the children's father being in constant mortal jeopardy. The climax involves one of the children having to diffuse an active bomb that has become embedded in a field adjacent to the family farm. Bad attitudes are present (again especially in the first half of the film before Nanny McPhee's teachings kick in), as is some potentially imitative behavior and various thematic elements including divorce. One parent is presumed dead for a long stretch of the movie, and there's some unrelated crude humor. If you're still concerned about the film and its appropriateness for yourself or anyone else in your home who may be interested in seeing it, we suggest that you take a closer look at our detailed listings for more specific information regarding the film's content. For those prone to visually induced motion sickness, there are some lightning strikes in the film that create a brief strobe light effect. ALCOHOL OR DRUG USE None. BLOOD/GORE A bird who is Nanny McPhee's frequent companion belches on at least a half-dozen occasions throughout the film. Cyril lowers his head and throws up on the backseat floor of the family automobile while in motion. We don't actually see the act of vomiting, but we do hear it. And after Cyril is finished, he wipes his glazed mouth on his sleeve. The barnyard of the Green family farm is a mix of mud and animal dung. Upon Cyril and Celia's arrival, frequent references are made to "poo" and the children aggressively chase each other around the muck as most of Celia's clothes spill out and become very filthy. There are a few close-up shots of feet stepping down hard on either mud or animal excrement. There is a snowman figure made entirely out of cow dung and possibly mud seen in one early barnyard sequence. A cow is heard breaking wind. Another animal is heard breaking wind, and Isabel briefly thinks it is Nanny McPhee. Mrs. Docherty sits down on a large lump of cow dung, thinking it is a cushiony chair. Nanny McPhee's bird lets out one final, climactic belch that is so powerful, it creates a cyclone-like effect. DISRESPECTFUL/BAD ATTITUDE For those concerned with the use of magical powers, Nanny McPhee is a magical nanny with the power to stop time, command animals, levitate objects, affect the weather, etc. It is learned that Phil bet the family farm at a local casino and lost it. He now actively schemes to get Isabel to sign a sales contract so he can get out of debt. Norman, Vincent, and Megsie jump on furniture, yell loudly while playing, and generally drive their mother crazy. Celia and Cyril openly mock Norman, Vincent, and Megsie for not being rich, for living on a farm, for not having nice clothes, and so forth. The Green kids fire back insults, making fun of their appearance, their fancy clothes, their spoiled upbringing, etc. Cyril taunts Megsie with a last piece of candy and goes ahead and eats it without giving her a bite. Celia refuses to get out of the car, kicking and resisting her chauffeur eventually causing him to lose his footing and fall into a large, muddy puddle. Despite the protests of the three Green children, Cyril intentionally breaks a special jar of jelly they had been saving for when their father returns home. Phil intentionally lets the family's pigs escape from their pen. The Greens were hoping to sell the animals for money that would be used to temporarily stave off foreclosure. Nanny McPhee's bird pecks one of the Green farmhouse's windows until it breaks. Celia puts on Isabel's wedding dress without her permission and goes traipsing around outside, getting it dirty. Cyril refuses to assist the Green kids retrieve their escaped pigs, but Nanny McPhee eventually gets him to help. Phil forges a telegram from the War Department, making his family believe that their husband and father has been killed in action. Cyril screams at his father after he refuses to help Norman determine the fate of his dad. Cyril's father calls his son "weak-willed" to his face. Cyril's father scoffs at Norman's belief that his father is still alive because he can "feel it in his bones," dismissing the boy's feelings as just a "cock-and-bull story." FRIGHTENING SCENES Scenes listed here and under "Violence" might be unsettling and/or suspenseful to younger viewers and/or those with low tolerance levels for such material. Seemingly every inanimate object in Mrs. Docherty's shop comes alive -- everything from drawers to teapots to fine china - to implore Isabel to hire Nanny McPhee. Some kids in the audience may be scared of Nanny McPhee's appearance, as close-ups of her face reveal two large moles, one buck tooth, and a uni-brow. Isabel walks home on a dark and windy night and even the wind and the trees tell her, rather creepily, to hire Nanny McPhee. An enemy plane passing overhead accidentally drops a bomb near the Green family farm. The bomb lands hard in an adjacent field, causing a loud boom, and becomes embedded in the ground. Megsie takes the initiative, over her mother's protests, in trying to diffuse that bomb in an effort to save the local harvest that would otherwise be destroyed. The bomb has a countdown (that the director plays up to maximum tense effect.) Miss Topsy and Miss Turvey first threaten Phil that they will cut his kidneys out of him, then actually take advantage of him handcuffed to attempt to gut him and stuff him as he pleads for his life. GUNS/WEAPONS Nanny McPhee wields a magical cane that is the key to many of her supernatural powers. As Nanny McPhee, Cyril, and Norman drive into London, they pass by multiple soldiers carrying rifles and other weaponry. Nanny McPhee and the boys fly over multiple guardsmen marching in formation and carrying drawn swords. An enemy plane flying overhead accidentally drops a bomb that does not detonate, but lands in a field near the Green family farm. IMITATIVE BEHAVIOR Phrases: "Bloody Hell!" "You beast," "They're savages," "We're in the land poo! Duck poo! Cow poo! Goat poo!" "Yes, Poo-Man," "I'd rather be bombed," "You're just a chauffeur," "Put a sock in it," "You monsters," "I'll kill you for this!" "You touch it, and I'll mash you!" "That vicious harpy," "How could anyone possibly want you?" "I'd rather sleep with a goat," "You look like a toilet bowl," "You look like a banana," "Blast you all!" "Get lost before I thump you," "You deplorable creature," "We're not some freak show!" "You fool," "Your face could win the war hands down," "You completely wicked person" and "That cock-and-bull story." During a sequence where all five kids are yelling at each other, their insults overlap and it became a bit difficult to get all of the colorful phrases they were uttering. There was one where a kid calls another a "psychotic" something and another kid calls the other something "from hell." Phil gambles and loses the family farm (off-screen), then tries to convince his sister Isabel to sell the property. The kids fight over a lemon drop. Celia refuses to get out of the car, kicking and resisting her chauffeur by clinging to the backseat. The struggle eventually causes the driver to lose his footing and fall into a large, muddy puddle. Cyril taunts Megsie with a last piece of candy and goes ahead and eats it without giving her a bite. Despite the protests of the three Green children, Cyril intentionally breaks a special jar of jelly they had been saving for when their father returns home. The five children tussle and rough-house with each other, pulling hair, throwing punches, wrestling, putting each other in chokeholds, and so forth. When the five children will not stop their physical shenanigans, Nanny McPhee casts a spell that causes four of them to begin hitting and harming themselves repeatedly. Vincent is forced to use a stick he had been wielding to hit Cyril to smash his mother's fine china and other objects (which Nanny McPhee magically restores). Meanwhile, one of the girls is forced to pull her own hair, another can't stop banging her head, and so forth. Phil intentionally lets the family's pigs escape from their pen. The Greens were hoping to sell the animals for money that would be used to temporarily stave off foreclosure. Cyril and Norman climb a tall tree to set a trap for the pigs as they run underneath. A British guard at the War Department threatens to beat Cyril and Norman up until he realizes they are under the care of Nanny McPhee, who once cared for him. Nanny McPhee tells the guard to eat his broccoli with cheese smothered on the stalks so that it will taste better. Nanny McPhee drives extremely fast through the English countryside. To prevent Isabel from signing a sales contract and giving up the farm, Celia screams that there is a mouse loose in the house and compels Isabel to spend at least a half-hour looking for the little rodent. During that time, Megsie steals Phil's pen, briefly preventing Isabel from signing. A baby elephant then steals the rest of Phil's pens. JUMP SCENES Norman starts up a tractor and it makes a sudden and very loud sound that jolts Phil. An enemy plane passing overhead accidentally drops a bomb near the Green family farm. The bomb lands hard in an adjacent field, causing a loud boom, and becomes embedded in the ground. MUSIC (SCARY/TENSE) A moderate amount of tense music occurs in the film. MUSIC (INAPPROPRIATE) None. PROFANITY At least 2 hells and 1 use of "Oh my God." SEX/NUDITY In a flashback, Isabel shares a long kiss with her husband on their wedding day. Isabel goes down a slide and her dress briefly comes up to reveal most of her bare legs, but nothing else. A reunited couple kiss long and hard in an open field. SMOKING None. TENSE FAMILY SCENES The Green family must deal with the constant stress of their husband and father being away at war and in harm's way. As the film opens, it has been three months since they last received a letter from him. The three poor Green children must share quarters with their two rich cousins, which causes them to bicker and quarrel constantly until Nanny McPhee shows up. Despite the protests of the three Green children, Cyril intentionally breaks a special jar of jelly they had been saving for when their father returns home. Cyril gets mad at Norman, Vincent, and Megsie and screams that they don't know anything about him and his sister. We later learn that Cyril and Celia are caught in the middle of their parents divorcing. Phil brings Isabel, Norman, Vincent, and Megsie a telegram that informs them that their father and husband has been killed in action. Cyril confronts his strict, career-obsessed, military father in London, accusing him of neglecting his family and chastising him for not helping Norman find out the truth about his father's fate. Phil pressures Isabel on multiple occasions to sign a contract and sell the family farm. Secretly, though, he has wagered the property in a game of chance and is now in debt to a local casino operator. Norman learns from the British War Department that his father is not dead, but is officially "missing in action." The family learns that Phil forged the telegram that told of Mr. Green's death and confront him on it. Celia is excited to see the family car approaching the farm, thinking her mother is coming. But she is disappointed to learn that it is just the family chauffeur who has brought her a pair of expensive shoes. Megsie takes the initiative, over her mother's protests, in attempting to diffuse a bomb that has been dropped near their family farm. The bomb has a countdown that the director plays up to maximum tense effect. TOPICS TO TALK ABOUT World War II. Parents who are away at war and the psychological effects on their spouses and children. Financial pressures. Class differences. Rural life vs. city living. Divorce. Magic. VIOLENCE Celia refuses to get out of the car, kicking and resisting her chauffeur by clinging to the backseat. The struggle eventually causes the driver to lose his footing and fall into a large, muddy puddle. Miss Topsey and Miss Turvey rough up Phil in a comical manner, grabbing him by his neck, snapping his suspenders hard, and briefly tossing him about as they threaten to remove his kidneys if he does not pay his debt to their boss. The five children tussle and rough-house with each other, pulling hair, throwing punches, wrestling, putting each other in chokeholds, and so forth. When the five children will not stop their physical shenanigans, Nanny McPhee casts a spell that causes four of them to begin hitting and harming themselves repeatedly. Vincent is forced to use a stick he had been wielding to hit Cyril to smash his mother's fine china and other objects (which Nanny McPhee magically restores). Meanwhile, one of the girls is forced to pull her own hair, another can't stop banging her head, and so forth. Mrs. Docherty's elderly husband falls backwards from a ladder while inspecting a dropped bomb and knocks himself out. Miss Topsy and Miss Turvey rough up Phil once again while he is handcuffed to a pipe, then proceed to lay out some surgical instruments while threatening to gut him and stuff him so their boss can permanently display him at the door of his casino as a warning to gamblers. Nanny McPhee's bird lets out a huge belch that creates a cyclone-like wind that thrash Miss Topsy and Miss Turvey about violently and subsequently blows them away out of sight. Reviewed August 17, 2010 / Posted August 20, 2010

Privacy Statement and Terms of Use and Disclaimer
By entering this site you acknowledge to having read and agreed to the above conditions.

All Rights Reserved,
©1996-2012 Screen It, Inc.