Nanny McPhee

What’s the Story?

Widowed father, Mr. Brown (Colin Firth) is at his wit's end as the film begins, as his seven kids have just run off their 17th nanny. Just in time, warty, snaggle-toothed, bulbous-nosed Nanny McPhee arrives on a dark night and promises to set the household aright. She expects the children, especially chief schemer Simon (Thomas Sangster), to live up to her expectations: they can be kids -- rambunctious, energetic, and silly -- but they must also respect others, including adults. Or, at least, those adults who do not appear foolish outright, like garish local widow Selma Quickly (Celia Imrie). When Mr. Brown's Great Aunt Adelaide (Angela Lansbury) insists he marry by the end of the month or lose her monthly checks, the children plot to chase off the widow, not thinking through the long-term effects. Nanny McPhee lets them and their father learn lessons the hard way, allowing Mr. Brown to figure out how he feels about his pretty housemaid Evangeline (Kelly Macdonald) on his own.

Is It Any Good?

Thompson, who adapted Sense and Sensibility for the screen in 1995, has devised a wonderful script based on Christianna Brand's Nurse Matilda books, wherein kids and nanny face off without condescending to one another. If some of the movie's effects are distractingly shoddy (see: the unconvincing dancing donkey), the kids (especially Sangster) are first-rate, and Thompson rather divine.

Nanny McPhee tells Mr. Brown she can manage the kids while maintaining her independence and dignity: "When you need me, but do not want me, I will stay," she says, "When you want me but do not need me, I will go." Nanny's lessons -- instilled through judicious use of a magic cane and wry common sense -- include respect, loyalty, and generosity.