Annie (2014) Movie Poster Image

Annie (2014)

age 7+
(i)

 

Update of classic musical is cute but a bit hokey.
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  • Review Date: December 19, 2014
  • Rated: PG
  • Genre: Family and Kids
  • Release Year: 2014
  • Running Time: 118 minutes

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What parents need to know

Educational value

Kids might learn a little bit about the foster care system, but older kids could be left with more questions than answers.

Positive messages

If you're smart and you work hard, anything can happen. Loyalty and friendship are valued. Money and material objects don't buy happiness.

Positive role models

Annie is strong, self-sufficient, and curious, but her streetwise antics can come across as manipulative. She's also on her own a lot and makes some choices kids will recognize as iffy (i.e. riding a bike without a helmet and running through the streets of the big city alone). Grace is a kind workaholic. Stacks is self-involved and ruthless at first, then realizes that work isn't the most important things in life. Guy lies, bribes, and cheats -- including scheming to "get rid" of Annie -- without ever showing remorse. Miss Hannigan is a miserable drunk who hates children but loves money and men (never fear -- she comes around in the end). A social worker steals at every opportunity.

Violence & scariness

Miss Hannigan threatens to hit the girls with a broom and sprays them with Windex. They visibly fear her. Annie almost gets run over by a truck. During a car chase scene at the end, Annie is in danger.

Sexy stuff

Miss Hannigan hits on many men. She dances provocatively and wears sexy clothes. She's mistaken for a prostitute. She uses innuendo that will likely go over smaller kids' head. Stacks and Grace like each other; they kiss at the end.

Language

A couple of "hell"s and "damn"s, and one "ass." Miss Hannigan calls the girls monsters and tells them to shut up. Also "sucks" and "idiot."

Consumerism

Product placement includes Purell, Febreeze, Skype, 5HourEnergy, and Windex. Twitter and Instagram are mentioned. Many off-screen product/merchadising tie-ins.

Drinking, drugs, & smoking

Miss Hannigan drinks frequently and appears drunk most of the time. She worries that Child Protective Services will find her pills.

Parents Need to Know

Parents need to know that Annie is an updated version of the classic stage and movie musical. Set in modern-day New York and starring Quvenzhané Wallis (Beasts of the Southern Wild), Annie features familiar songs (updated by Jay-Z and Sia) and Annie's typically hard-knock life with vile foster mom Miss Hannigan (Cameron Diaz), who drinks too much and terrorizes the girls in her care. Younger kids may find her hostile parenting style very unsettling (she yells in a drunken rage and sprays the girls with Windex). There are a few tense scenes where Annie is in danger (she's also rescued from being hit by a car by Daddy Warbucks stand-in Will Stacks, played by Jamie Foxx), a bit of language ("hell," "damn," "sucks," etc.), and a little flirting and kissing. Illiteracy is also an issue for one of the main characters and is aggressively tackled once it’s discovered. Some kids might find it upsetting that Annie was abandoned at a restaurant as a young child, but the movie talks about foster families and social class in an interesting way. It may not live up to the classic for some die-hard fans, but it's an entertaining family film with good music.

What's the story?

ANNIE is a modernized take on the Little Orphan Annie story, with updated music and a present-day New York setting. In this version, Annie (Quvenzhané Wallis) is a foster child who's living with the vile Miss Hannigan (Cameron Diaz) when cell phone tycoon Will Stacks (an updated version of Daddy Warbucks, played by Jamie Foxx) saves her from being run over by a truck. His shady campaign manager (Bobby Cannavale) decides that Stacks needs a child to make him more human, so Annie leaves her hard-knock life for a penthouse apartment. Annie sings her heart out, goes to fancy Hollywood parties, and continues her search for her birth parents.

Is it any good?

QUALITY

The best scene in Annie is the first one: A little redheaded girl sings an inspiring poem, and you think it will be the same old story. Then she sits down, and the Annie of this movie, Wallis, appears. She does her school report on social class differences, and you get the idea that this Annie will be much different than the one in the classic tale. But while it's refreshing to see a new, modern take on Annie -- as well as any kids' movie that talks about class and poverty -- Annie doesn't quite live up to its potential. It misses many opportunities to build the characters and offer teachable moments, instead opting for cheesy dialogue and endless panoramic views of New York City. The lead characters lack passion and emotion; we never fully understand why Stacks is so hard or why Grace is such a workaholic, making it hard to embrace the family they'll become. It drags a bit and is convoluted and hokey at the end.

Still, Wallis (Beasts of the Southern Wild) is impressive -- she outshines her foster dad in every scene. And Diaz is fun as the wretched, aging almost-pop star, Miss Hannigan. Jay-Z and Sia updated the music and added original songs which, although sometimes great, upstage the rest of the movie. Annie isn't perfect, but it's an entertaining musical with a good mix of the old-fashioned Annie spirit and modern life.

Families can talk about...

  • Families can talk about Annie's choices. Do you think she was justified in sneaking out and lying to Miss Hannigan because Miss Hannigan wasn't very nice?

  • Which characters are intended to be role models? How can you tell? Could they have done more/other things to better demonstrate their positive qualities to kids?

  • For fans of the original, how does this one compare? What's different, and what's the same? Which do you like better?

  • What role does media play in the story? How does that make Annie and her friends' life different than it was for the original Annie?

  • How does the movie depict foster parents? Do you think it's intended to be realistic?

Movie details

Theatrical release date:December 19, 2014
DVD release date:March 17, 2015
Cast:Jamie Foxx, Quvenzhane Wallis, Cameron Diaz
Director:Will Gluck
Studios:Sony Pictures Releasing, Columbia Pictures
Genre:Family and Kids
Topics:Misfits and underdogs, Music and sing-along
Run time:118 minutes
MPAA rating:PG
MPAA explanation:some mild language and rude humor

This review of Annie (2014) was written by

Yvonne Condes
Common Sense Media's unbiased ratings are conducted by expert reviewers and aren't influenced by the product's creators or by any of our funders, affiliates, or partners.

Quality

Our star rating assesses the media's overall quality.

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Learning ratings

  • Best: Really engaging; great learning approach.
  • Very Good: Engaging; good learning approach.
  • Good: Pretty engaging; good learning approach.
  • Fair: Somewhat engaging; OK learning approach.
  • Not for Learning: Not recommended for learning.
  • Not for Kids: Not age-appropriate for kids; not recommended for learning.

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Educator and Parent Written byscrilldadoolittle December 22, 2014
age 6+

Great movie with an unexpected scary scene.

I took my seven year old daughter to see this movie, and we loved the story, the music, the acting (other than Cameron Diaz, though that's more of a personal thing), the costumes, etc. There is one surprisingly scary scene I think families should be aware of. In the original Annie, Daddy Warbucks takes Annie and Grace to the movies. Viewers see a clip of a classic film that relates to the plot of Annie. In this version of the film, Stacks (Daddy Warbucks' equivalent) takes Annie and all of her friends to a star studded movie premiere. The kids see a movie called MoonQuake Lake starring Mila Kunis and Ashton Kutcher. It's a little hard to tell what the movie is supposed to be about, and its themes are random and not at all related to the movie. Rihanna also makes an appearance as a scary demon sending a warning to Mila's character. All of a sudden, there is a shot of Rihanna's face transforming into a monster with scary blue eyes, a blue mouth, and fangs. My sensitive kiddo was deeply startled by this miniature horror film dropped awkwardly into the middle of an otherwise charming movie, burst into tears, and wanted to leave the theater. We stayed once she realized that part was over, but I was very disappointed at the unnecessary violence portrayed in the clip and think other families with sensitive kids should prepare them or give them a chance to look away.
What other families should know
Great messages
Great role models
Too much consumerism
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Parent of a 8 and 12 year old Written byb080170e December 19, 2014
age 7+

Not bad but not great either

We had been waiting, literally, months for this movie. We've watched the original Annie movie plus several different stage versions of the play. So, our family was ready for any adaptation. I thought the music was the best part of the film. The musical performances were not outstanding in quality; however, they were fun and catchy and I noticed all the kids (and adults) bopping in their seats to the music. I enjoyed all the performances, except for Cameron Diaz's interpretation of Ms. Hannigan. I realize that she's supposed to be a mean drunk...but to me, this performance was over the top and in your face unsettling. I tried really hard not to let it bother me since I know it's the character that she's playing. At the same time, I think it could have been as effective a bit subtler- both with the blatant references to her being drunk 24/7 and her sexuality with almost any man that moves. I found her disturbing. The girls say their life "sucks" with Ms. Hannigan in case anyone wants to know about that language. There was one use of "Hell" and I think one use of "ass" (I think) that I don't know was mentioned. Not too big of a deal for our family, but just in case anyone needs to know. Otherwise, Jamie Foxx was delightful. Quvenzhané Wallis also does a beautiful job. I am not sorry we saw the movie, but I didn't walk away blown away either. I thought it was good.
What other families should know
Too much drinking/drugs/smoking
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Parent of a 4 and 6 year old Written byTamoyia December 20, 2014
age 6+

Jamie Fox says "ASS"

I loved the movie BUT Jamie fox says " There will Kick your ass", That caught us off guard. It was a great movie
What other families should know
Great messages
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