Review: Annie (2014)
Reboot time and this time ANNIE is on the plate… and she swings and she hits and is it a homerun? Can she hit it out of the field?
Sadly not, since there is only ONE true red-haired Annie and only ONE time you could feel nostalgic.
Still, this movie makes for a good vibe, and some really nice play and songs!
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…. this is according to Sony of course.
It was actually a thrill to see Diaz as a mean drunk lady, which was funny to begin with. Foxx is over-the-top just by looking at him at times, but somehow Foxx always makes a movie happen. To have him act a germaphobe was a nice find, and then having that potato-spitting moment was just as painful as it was funny.
To have Wallis play a street-smart Annie (akin to the original) makes for a great updated, fresh family movie with a a multi-racial cast to support the story, with everything from actors to song choice and song rewrites, story line and surroundings… it all gives fans of the original a taste of the old, while presenting the timeless Rags to Riches story of Annie to a new generation.
Bottomline? This just is a fun family movie. Watch it with your young kids and perhaps it will not be as nostalgic as parents would like, but it sure makes for a good family-bonding afternoon!
Director: Will Gluck | Cast: Quvenzhané Wallis (Annie), Jamie Foxx (Will Stacks), Rose Byrne (Grace), Cameron Diaz (Hannigan), e.o. | Playtime: 118 minuten | Year: 2014
About the Author
Richard Boom Richard is the driving force behind Comics for Sinners. His love and admiration for female comic book characters is virtually unparalleled, which immediately explains his biggest 'sin': his Hot Mummy fetish. This sketchbook theme is philogynistic in nature and even the source of his WIP comic book series "The Sisterhood".
