If you've come from our parental review of this film and wish to return to it, simply click on your browser's BACK button.
Otherwise, use the following link to read our complete Parental Review of this film.
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.
OUR TAKE: 8 out of 10
It was a pleasure to watch "Nanny McPhee Returns." And it is certainly a pleasure to review it. Confident in the way few sequels are (especially with only the lead character returning), this follow-up to the 2005 British hit finds Emma Thompson reprising her titular role of a strict, but magical caregiver who tells the children in her charge: "When you need but do not want me, then I will stay. When you want me but no longer need me, then I have to go."
Set in World War II England, the film centers on frazzled mom Isabel Green (Maggie Gyllenhaal) and her three pre-teen kids (Asa Butterfield, Oscar Steer, and Lil Woods) as they deal with their father away fighting and the family farm threatened with foreclosure. Crooked Uncle Phil (Rhys Ifans) wants them to sell so he can pay off a gambling debt. Meanwhile, Isabel's sister has sent her two spoiled kids (Eros Vlahos and Rosie Taylor-Ritson) to live with them in the countryside as London is under constant siege from Nazi bombers.
Predictably, the city children clash with the farm kids, and it's all Isabel can do to keep it together. Into their lives comes Nanny McPhee who wields a magical cane that compels the kids to do her bidding and learn lessons in the process. Nanny M kind of wields the cane like an old-school dad would go for his belt. Any time the kids get unruly, out comes the rod. A quick tap on the floor and moments later, time stands still, or the kids stop hitting each other and are compelled to hit themselves. When one kid says he'd rather sleep with a goat than share a bed with his snooty cousin, McPhee produces one ready for beddy-bye. That sort of thing.
The film is formulaic, to be sure. But it is so utterly charming and storybook-like, you just go with the lessons. The WWII time frame really deepens the film, too. Yes, it takes a page from C.S. Lewis' "Narnia" books in this regard. But there is some real dramatic weight to the dilemmas the kids are going through here. Isabel constantly fears for her husband's safety while he is away at war, and the kids use his absence to assume various responsibilities around the farm. Cyril and Celia, meanwhile, eventually reveal that their mother and father -- who is high up in the British War Department -- are in the process of divorcing amid the strain of the era.
The film features a wealth of top U.K. actors, too. In addition to Thompson and Ifans, the cast includes Maggie Smith as a slightly senile, local shop owner who employs Isabel (and ends up being a link to the first film). Two major actors cameo in the film, too, and I'll leave them to your surprise. Let's just say one was a titan clashed and the other was once a Jedi knight.
"Nanny McPhee Returns" definitely has a British vibe going for it that makes its eccentricities a bit easier to buy than had the same story been told in an American setting. I liked the small bit involving the country pig farmer who believes in the hidden intelligence of swine. Two local female brutes named Miss Topsy and Miss Turvey constantly threaten the debt-ridden Phil and are a hoot throughout. And whereas an American production would go for crasser, more hyperkinetic thrills, there is something to be said for the quaint spectacle of Nanny McPhee's flying motorcycle or a group of pigs who excel at synchronized swimming.
The whole thing works beautifully. A shorter running time might have kept the littlest ones in the audience more engaged. But this might be the best movie a grandparent can take his/her grandchild to this year. With fond memories of watching movies with my grandma as a child, I give this a very enthusiastic 8 out of 10. (T. Durgin)
![[Screen It]](/images/underground_header.jpg)