Annie (2014)

    

     A movie critic's job, or at least the highest ideal he or she should strive for, is to always review movies objectively, never letting personal bias and prejudice get in the way.  And as a prominent movie critic, I always do my best to never stray from this ultimate goal.  But occasionally, very occasionally mind you, there comes a movie so great that it completely shakes my whole perception of movies up, to the point where I don't even know what the word "bias" means anymore.  These sorts of movies only come every 10 years or so, but they are my pride and joy as a film critic.  And I was surprised to find that, upon exiting the theater, I believed the 2014 remake of Annie to be one of these sorts of movies.

     The film is faithful to the 1982 original in song and message, but aside from those two vital components, it is truly its own movie.  Upon watching the "new" Annie, one gets the constant feeling that a dam has finally broken in family entertainment, and the floodgates are now wide open for classic, unique, and poignant family fun at the movies.  Sarcastic and wry enough to charm the adults, and silly and innocuous enough to touch the little ones, every moment in Annie is bursting at the seams with witty dialogue and sharp film-making.

     The film begins drolly enough: a quaint little red haired girl is finishing her quaint little report on William Henry Harrison.  It is not funny, clever, sentimental, or effective, and it's a pretty bad way to begin an otherwise phenomenal movie.  Then the moment we've all been waiting for arrives: little Annie (Quevenshane Wallis, who might remember from her surprise Oscar nomination for "Beasts of the Southern Wild") takes the stage and gives her big important report on Franklin Delano Roosevelt.  It's a subtle nod to the 1982 original (which was set during Roosevelt's presidency), and it works beautifully, even as she leads the class in an infectious chant in order to teach them about them about Roosevelt's New Deal.  This is where the movie really begins.

     Things roll along smoothly, with some sublimely shot scenes of New York City.  It is here where we meet Annie's friends and their foster mother Miss Hannigan, a nefarious child-hater played expertly by Cameron Diaz (who really does have a much better singing voice than you'd expect).  They then proceed to sing a trite version of "It's A Hard Knock Life," complete with buckets and mops that nobody really wanted to see.  When Miss Hannigan tells the girls "less singing and more cleaning", you can't help but agree with her.  Still, I must applaud the filmmakers on their choice to revamp the old Broadway music.  The hip hop beats really add a nice touch, though it doesn't quite redeem "Hard Knock".

     But then there's a stellar performance of "Maybe" from everyone but the cynical Pepper.  Will Stacks (Jaimie Fox), a wealthy cell phone entrepreneur who also happens to be running for mayor, saves Annie from a car wreck in a rather moving scene.  He takes her home with him, where they soon develop a special bond that it's impossible not to love them for.  She helps him get up in the polls, and he helps her deal with the loss of her parents, so there's a complex symbiotic relationship beneath the surface of a seemingly simple daddy-daughter dynamic. 

     Things play out from there just as you'd expect them to, (complete with fake parents and movie premieres) but the one thing I'd like to highlight is the film's brilliant critiques of the film industry.  During the movie premiere, for one thing, it is pointed out that product placement is the only thing that's keeping the film industry afloat.  And that is so true.  It must have taken a lot of guts for them to say that, since it's likely they'll get a lot of backlash from greedy Hollywood moguls in the near future.  And then, in a wickedly funny scene. Cameron Diaz's character lampoons the idea of a musical, recognizing that it's odd for characters to randomly burst into song.  She is truly correct in this observation, and while it may come across to some as self-parody, her enigmatic performance of the line dispels any notion of irony.

     That leads me to one of my favorite parts of the movie: the humanization of Miss Hannigan as a villain towards the end.  Too many movies fall into the trap of having a completely unlikable, unrelatable villain.  But in a surprise twist, Miss Hannigan is revealed to be a truly good woman at heart who just plays the cards she's dealt to the best of her ability.  Thus, an extremely complex character emerges, one that goes far beyond the usual confines of a kiddie flick.  And that's the general takeaway you get from Annie: it's so much more than just a copycat of its original, and so much more than just your average family film.

     But like most legendary films, Annie is not without its flaws, the main one being the very unfunny and tasteless joke of Will Stacks spitting mashed potatoes on a poor, mistreated hobo.  Still, in a way, the flaws are what make the movie truly fascinating, and truly full of depth.  The constant references to social media only add to the feeling of sleek, modern brilliance.  This is not an old-fashioned movie.  This is a fantastic movie, and quite possibly a revolutionary one.  During a memorable helicopter flight, Stacks says to Annie: "Sometimes just what you're looking for is right in front of your face."  When watching "Annie" on the big screen, you can't help but say the same thing about a dying industry that just might have received a new burst of life in the form of a little girl called "Annie".

I give Annie stars out of 10.