Annie (3/18/2015)

Rated PG for some mild language and rude humor.

Starring Quvenzhane Wallis, Jamie Foxx, Cameron Diaz and Rose Byrne

Directed by Will Gluck (Friends with Benefits and Easy A)

It’s a “Hard Knock” movie.

Academy Award nominee Quvenzhané Wallis (Beasts of the Southern Wild) stars as Annie, a young, happy foster kid who’s also tough enough to make her way on the streets of New York in 2014. Originally left by her parents as a baby with the promise that they’d be back for her someday, it’s been a “hard knock” life ever since with her mean foster mom Miss Hannigan (Cameron Diaz). But everything’s about to change when the hard-nosed tycoon and New York mayoral candidate Will Stacks (Jamie Foxx) – advised by his brilliant VP, Grace (Rose Byrne) and his shrewd and scheming campaign advisor, Guy (Bobby Cannavale) – makes a thinly-veiled campaign move and takes her in. Stacks believes he’s her guardian angel, but Annie’s self-assured nature and bright, sun-will-come-out-tomorrow outlook on life just might mean it’s the other way around.

I was pretty sure I was not going to enjoy this reboot of Annie…mostly because I’m not a huge fan of the original, musicals or Cameron Diaz. So I took my wife and daughter with me to help give me perspective. Unfortunately my wife is a purest so she didn’t care for the “new and improved” updates. And my daughter, who also likes the original, didn’t love the new one.

Why?

Well for me the cast is both good and bad. Quvenzhane Wallis is talented but gets annoying at times. I’m not the biggest Jamie Foxx fan, but even for me I thought he was just OK and Cameron Diaz overacts in every scene. I realize her job is to be unlikeable…and she succeeded there.

Will Gluck’s wheelhouse seems to be raunchy teen films like Friends with Benefits and Easy A and appears to be out of his element when it comes to making a family film. It just doesn’t feel natural.

Finally, it’s a musical. OK, OK I knew that going into it so maybe that’s an unfair criticism. But just to let you know, I’ve watched Frozen over 100 times and sing along with my daughter every time. Annie lacked a certain magic. It never drew me in.

I’m sorry, but I didn’t like this film at all, but I’m not the film’s target audience. I like action, drama, suspense, comedy…this film didn’t have any of that…although it tried to be funny at times. But…and this is a pretty big but…this is a great film for families. So for that reason I’m giving it a “Rental.”

SHOULD KIDS SEE IT?
For the most part this is a family film. There are a few lines that younger kids will either miss or ask, “What does that mean?”

CONVERSATION STARTER:

1. How do Annie and the other orphans view adoption?


2. Do you know anyone who is adopted? How do they view it?

Read Galatians 4:4-7

But when the right time came, God sent his Son, born of a woman, subject to the law. 5 God sent him to buy freedom for us who were slaves to the law, so that he could adopt us as his very own children. 6 And because we are his children, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, prompting us to call out, “Abba, Father.” 7 Now you are no longer a slave but God’s own child. And since you are his child, God has made you his heir.


3. How do you think God views adoption?


4. Do you know what “Abba” means? (It means Daddy)


5. How does calling God “Daddy” change how you pray?


6. How does seeing God as your Daddy change how you live?