Nanny McPhee
Nanny McPhee is ugly.
So is the behavior of the seven Brown children.
Nanny McPhee has a large, bulbous nose, several facial warts, a certain rotundity of figure, a snaggle tooth, and a decidedly unfeminine unibrow.
The children are out of control, willful, disrespectful, and rude. And they have intentionally chased away the last 17 nannies since their mother died. And they are counting on victim #18.
Having exhausted all the options at his disposal, Mr. Brown is at his wits’ end when Nanny McPhee arrives (out of nowhere), announcing, after a brief interrogation, that the children need her. She then tells the children that as long as they don't want her, but they need her, she will stay; as soon as they want her but do not need her, she is to go. In the meantime, she has five lessons to teach, five ways in which the children's lives will change for the better. (You can imagine the seven pairs of rolling eyes...)
Nanny McPhee's primary teaching tool is to use the children's behavioral whims to her advantage—a bang of her magic stick, and suddenly the children are completely unable to stop the misbehavior they are so intent on performing. So you want to play in the kitchen? OK—now you are unable to stop the mayhem. So you want to lie in bed, pretending you have the measles? OK—now you truly have the measles, and literally cannot arise from your bed.
The screenplay, written by Emma Thompson herself, is decked with little grains of wisdom, mainly spoken from behind that snaggle tooth. However, the most poignant undercurrent is the way in which the characters undergo their own "Extreme Makeovers."
The first lesson that must be learned is saying “please�—and saying it sincerely. This is accomplished in the kitchen-mayhem scene, when the eldest of the seven children, Simon, is forced to sincerely ask Nanny McPhee to break whatever spell is keeping them from stopping their obnoxious and destructive behavior.
Lesson One is learned: the children's behavior loses a piece of its ugliness; and Nanny McPhee loses a wart.
As the movie progresses, the children learn their subsequent lessons, and also learn to accept the consequences of their actions. But each time the children's demeanor improves, so does Nanny McPhee. Over the course of their five lessons learned, Nanny McPhee's warts dissolve; her brow become neatly divided into two very shapely brows (plural); her bulbous nose shrinks; her snaggle tooth disappears; she develops a waistline. With each of the children’s steps toward respect for self and others, Nanny McPhee grows more and more comely.
Nanny McPhee is a fun, delightful movie, taking a 21st century twist on the Practically Perfect Mary Poppins of the olden days. But look out Nip/Tuck. Move over Extreme Makeover. When children learn to respect themselves and others, it affects the beauty of the entire world around them, without ever reaching for a scalpel or laser to remove the ugliness.
And that is the beauty of Nanny McPhee.
So is the behavior of the seven Brown children.
Nanny McPhee has a large, bulbous nose, several facial warts, a certain rotundity of figure, a snaggle tooth, and a decidedly unfeminine unibrow.
The children are out of control, willful, disrespectful, and rude. And they have intentionally chased away the last 17 nannies since their mother died. And they are counting on victim #18.
Having exhausted all the options at his disposal, Mr. Brown is at his wits’ end when Nanny McPhee arrives (out of nowhere), announcing, after a brief interrogation, that the children need her. She then tells the children that as long as they don't want her, but they need her, she will stay; as soon as they want her but do not need her, she is to go. In the meantime, she has five lessons to teach, five ways in which the children's lives will change for the better. (You can imagine the seven pairs of rolling eyes...)
Nanny McPhee's primary teaching tool is to use the children's behavioral whims to her advantage—a bang of her magic stick, and suddenly the children are completely unable to stop the misbehavior they are so intent on performing. So you want to play in the kitchen? OK—now you are unable to stop the mayhem. So you want to lie in bed, pretending you have the measles? OK—now you truly have the measles, and literally cannot arise from your bed.The screenplay, written by Emma Thompson herself, is decked with little grains of wisdom, mainly spoken from behind that snaggle tooth. However, the most poignant undercurrent is the way in which the characters undergo their own "Extreme Makeovers."
The first lesson that must be learned is saying “please�—and saying it sincerely. This is accomplished in the kitchen-mayhem scene, when the eldest of the seven children, Simon, is forced to sincerely ask Nanny McPhee to break whatever spell is keeping them from stopping their obnoxious and destructive behavior.Lesson One is learned: the children's behavior loses a piece of its ugliness; and Nanny McPhee loses a wart.
As the movie progresses, the children learn their subsequent lessons, and also learn to accept the consequences of their actions. But each time the children's demeanor improves, so does Nanny McPhee. Over the course of their five lessons learned, Nanny McPhee's warts dissolve; her brow become neatly divided into two very shapely brows (plural); her bulbous nose shrinks; her snaggle tooth disappears; she develops a waistline. With each of the children’s steps toward respect for self and others, Nanny McPhee grows more and more comely.Nanny McPhee is a fun, delightful movie, taking a 21st century twist on the Practically Perfect Mary Poppins of the olden days. But look out Nip/Tuck. Move over Extreme Makeover. When children learn to respect themselves and others, it affects the beauty of the entire world around them, without ever reaching for a scalpel or laser to remove the ugliness.
And that is the beauty of Nanny McPhee.
2 Comments:
Beautifully written review and right on the money.
Thank you, Bill!
Post a Comment
<< Home