"Behave or Beware." That's the tag line for Nanny McPhee, a movie about seven naughty children and the magical but ugly governess who sets them straight, and it perfectly captures the dark humor and ominous authority of Christianna Brand's Nurse Matilda books on which the film was based. But somewhere along the way, the film loses sight of this theme, and it becomes a movie about something else entirely, with disappointing results.

Brand introduced this magical governess in a short story for the 1962 anthology Naughty Children, which she then expanded into a book two years later; it was followed by two sequels. These stories follow a basic template: There is a family with many, many children—one of the running gags is that the author keeps introducing the names of boys and girls we have not yet met—and because there are so many of these children, they don't have adequate adult supervision; and thus, when all other nurses and nannies have quit, it is up to the magical Nurse Matilda to come and make the children behave.

Nanny McPhee (Emma Thompson) has a word for the children

Nanny McPhee (Emma Thompson) has a word for the children

Usually, Nurse Matilda disciplines the children by making them continue in their bad behavior long after they have ceased to will it to continue. If, say, they have been gobbling their food too fast, she taps the floor with her big black stick and, next thing you know, the children can't stop eating; indeed, they eat until it hurts. Eventually, the children learn their lesson, and every time they do, Nurse Matilda—who looked rather ugly when she first arrived at their house—looks slightly less ugly than she did before. Good behavior does not only make the children better people, it allows them to see others in a better light, too.

Emma Thompson grew up on these stories and clearly loves them; she wrote the screenplay for Nanny McPhee and stars as its title character, a bulbous-nosed, hairy-warted crone with an enormous snaggletooth that hangs over her lower lip. The children naturally mock her at first, until they realize she isn't someone to be trifled with. She also gets fine support from director Kirk Jones (Waking Ned Devine), who keeps the activity at a funny, cartoonish pitch, and from composer Patrick Doyle (Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire), whose broad, sweeping music is practically a character in its own right, and almost steals the show.

Mr. Brown (Colin Firth) and baby Agatha get into a fine mess

Mr. Brown (Colin Firth) and baby Agatha get into a fine mess

On one level, Nanny McPhee is a fascinating symbol of the sort of authority that makes itself redundant by encouraging children and others to become truly mature people. Ominously, she tells the children, "When you need me, but do not want me, then I must stay. When you want me, but no longer need me, then I have to go." She tells the family that she intends to teach five lessons—to go to bed when told, to get up when told, and so on. Each act of collective obedience on the children's part makes Nanny McPhee—and, by extension, the authority she represents—more attractive to them, as her ugly features begin to disappear one at a time. But as the children shape up and internalize the lessons she teaches them, they also become increasingly less dependent on her authority and more confident in their own independence … which seemed to be Nanny McPhee's—and thus screenwriter Thompson's—intent all along.

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However, Thompson also alters the template in substantial ways, some of them justified by the demands of drama and others less so. First, rather than fill the family with dozens of essentially anonymous children, she has understandably trimmed the number of children down to seven and given them all somewhat distinct personalities; in particular, she has beefed up the role of eldest son Simon (Love Actually's Thomas Sangster), who has personally overseen the children's efforts to drive away all the other nannies, and now cannot understand why his efforts to drive this new one away are failing. Second, and more regrettably, she has killed off the mother, and turned the father, Mr. Cedric Brown (Colin Firth), into an insecure single parent who is obliged to find a new wife within a few weeks, lest he lose the regular allowance he receives from his stern Aunt Adelaide (Angela Lansbury).

Selma Quickly (Celia Imrie) is a widow who seems intent on proving every stepmother stereotype in the fairy-tale books

Selma Quickly (Celia Imrie) is a widow who seems intent on proving every stepmother stereotype in the fairy-tale books

This sets in motion one of those typical movie subplots in which two people have to fall in love by a certain deadline; it also sets in motion some of the film's bawdier gags. It's obvious from the beginning that the scullery maid Evangeline (Trainspotting's Kelly Macdonald) gets along well with the children and is secretly in love with their father, but Mr. Brown, of course, is oblivious to her affection, so he pursues a hasty courtship with the aptly-named Selma Quickly (Celia Imrie), a widow who seems intent on proving every stepmother stereotype in the fairy-tale books. The children's efforts to sabotage this courtship, and Mr. Brown's frantic efforts to protect Selma from this sabotage, result in a great deal of physical contact between the two of them that Selma interprets the wrong way.

As is often the case with British children's stories, there is a darker edge to Nanny McPhee that gives the story some much-needed spice and would be almost unthinkable in an American fairy tale (although the baby's occasional efforts to talk do bring the Lemony Snicket books to mind). The children guillotine their dolls and scare one of their nannies away by pretending to eat their infant sibling (in actuality, they are eating pieces of chicken covered in baby's clothing), and their father is an undertaker who privately quips that what's bad for his clients is good for him. One of Nanny McPhee's earlier disciplinary stratagems also involves putting a baby's life in peril—though we know things will turn out all right in the end. But it isn't long before the film relaxes its grip and goes soft on us.

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Angela Lansbury as the imperious Aunt Adelaide

Angela Lansbury as the imperious Aunt Adelaide

For me, the turning point comes when Aunt Adelaide shows up at the house and, due to her poor eyesight, mistakes the animals in the yard for children—which is just a bit too silly even for this film—and then when Nanny McPhee shows up and makes a donkey wink and dance as though it had wandered into the story straight out of Shrek. After this, Nanny McPhee seems less interested in getting the children to behave properly than in teaching their father a thing or two about parenting, while letting the children put their misbehavior to better use; by the time the food fight gets under way, you are reminded less of Mary Poppins and more of the recent slapstick-happy remakes of Cheaper by the Dozen and Yours, Mine and Ours. (Bad behavior isn't always bad, it seems; this film wants to throw its cake and eat it too.) And it all comes to a climax in an ending pinched from Disney's Cinderella. There are many different kinds of children's movies, and this one tries to be all of them at once.

Most disappointing is that this is ultimately another one of those films in which the children are smarter than the adults. Obviously, these kids are no match for Nanny McPhee, but then, she is a sort of supernatural being who stands outside regular human society, and she is not quite in the same league as the children's relatives or neighbors, almost all of whom are objects of derision, recipients of lessons from their children, or silly bystanders. (The one exception is Evangeline, the servant girl who dreams of getting married and thus embodies a familiar children's fantasy.) As one critic has put it, this is a children's movie, not a family movie; and while it's open to question whether this Nanny will encourage children to behave, it's probably safe to say that parents should beware.

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Talk About It

Discussion starters
  1. Nanny McPhee tells the children that, when they need her but do not want her, she will be there, but when they want her but do not need her, she will be gone. What sort of authority figure does this make her? How does it compare or contrast with how you see the role of parents, teachers, pastors, or God?

  2. Nanny McPhee tells the children that, even if she wanted to, she could not meddle in affairs of the heart. Do you think her actions in the rest of the film bear this out?

  3. What does this film say about physical appearances? How does Nanny McPhee's facial appearance change over the course of the story? Why does it change? What does the change signify? What about Aunt Adelaide's big nose? Does it signify anything? Does the film encourage us to react to physical appearances, or to see past them?

The Family Corner

For parents to consider

Nanny McPhee is rated PG for mild thematic elements, some rude humor and brief language. The children introduce themselves to Nanny McPhee using rude pseudonymns, some of which are based in British slang (like "Fartworthy"), and they plant various insects, animals, and substances in the food served to one of their father's guests. There are some close physical encounters between their father and another buxom woman, which she interprets as sexual eagerness.

What Other Critics Are Saying

You'll have a hard time finding any movie reviews of director Kirk Jones' Nanny McPhee that doesn't compare the story to Mary Poppins. But that doesn't mean the film is a cheap imitation.

Mainstream critics are generally positive about McPhee, especially praising Emma Thompson, who plays the magical, scowling, strict lead character from the beloved Nurse Matilda books by Christianna Brand. This super-nanny seems, at first, to be ugly and forbidding. But as she teaches the children and their father (Colin Firth) a thing or two, they begin to warm up to her, and audiences will too.

But what does it all mean? Christian film critics are giving mixed reviews.

Marcus Yoars (Plugged In) says, "Cleavage, a worm sandwich, an amorous misunderstanding, and touches of crude language and slapstick violence push the age of Nanny McPhee's target audience higher than that of Mary Poppins'. But on the whole it's a fun, well-crafted, tender-hearted tale about getting a grip on your family and seeing beauty inside of everyone. It preaches obedience, tough love, sacrifice and gratitude, while scolding parents who either spoil or ignore their children."

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Lisa Rice (Crosswalk) criticizes the film for not following her idea of good screenplay rules, and for much more than that. "The children learn some good lessons—and others which are puzzling—but some of their mischief is not rebuked. Nanny McPhee also carries too much willing suspension of disbelief. … Because of the numerous story and character development issues, Nanny McPhee just isn't that satisfying. Not to mention the fact that there is always a certain 'cringe factor' when a movie extols witchcraft as the answer." And she concludes that Colin Firth's character is the film's biggest problem. "As viewers, we are dying for him to rise up and be a man worthy of following, but it never happens."

But Harry Forbes (Catholic News Service) is not at all offended. "The plot is wildly derivative … but no less enjoyable for that. And the sweet tale is touching, well acted by its solid British cast and the fairy-tale ambience is successfully sustained. Some very mild innuendo when Brown courts Quickly, and a couple of remarks about incest, which will go over most kids' heads, preclude recommendation for very young children. Otherwise, this candy-hued fable is delightful viewing and imparts admirable messages about the primacy of family and the inherent goodness of people."

And Jenn Wright (Hollywood Jesus) says, "Nanny McPhee is a fun, delightful movie."

Andrew Coffin (World) says, "Nanny McPhee is a sort of cross between Mary Poppins and ABC's Supernanny (or, if you prefer, Fox's Nanny 911). While the film is neither the classic that is the former nor as instructive as the latter, Nanny McPhee is a pleasant British family diversion."

Cliff Vaughn (Ethics Daily) says, "Director Kirk Jones will keep young and old audiences involved, and he produces a movie that—unlike most—actually gets much better as it goes along. … After watching Nanny McPhee, you simply wish [Emma] Thompson wrote more scripts. Her first feature adaptation, Sense and Sensibility, won her an Oscar. Though McPhee probably won't garner the same amount of critical acclaim (because it's a 'children's film'), it's nevertheless a finely layered story with some very sweet lines."

Nanny McPhee
Our Rating
2½ Stars - Fair
Average Rating
 
(2 user ratings)ADD YOURSHelp
Mpaa Rating
PG (for mild thematic elements, some rude humor and brief language)
Genre
Directed By
Kirk Jones
Run Time
1 hour 37 minutes
Cast
Emma Thompson, Colin Firth, Angela Lansbury
Theatre Release
January 27, 2006 by Universal Studios
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