Family Fun Saturday - Annie (2014)

Columbia, 2014
Starring Quevenzhane Wallis, Jamie Foxx, Cameron Diaz, and Rose Byrne
Directed by Will Gluck
Music by Charles Strouse and others; Lyrics by Martin Charmin and others

The success of a hip-hop "Hard Knock Life" prompted Columbia to remake this story in a modern-day setting, with a very sassy 21st century Annie. Will Smith's daughter Willow was originally to appear, but by the time they finally got it off the ground, she was too old and Wallis was in. How does the story of the little orphan girl who warms the heart of a crusty rich businessman work in current times? Let's head to Harlem in New York City to find out...

The Story: Annie Bennett (Wallis) lives in Harlem with several other girls who are foster children to Colleen Hannigan (Diaz), a former rock singer who is generally too drunk to really take care of them. Annie holds out hopes that her parents will come for her someday, waiting outside an Italian restaurant every Friday in the hopes that they'll be there. Her luck starts to change when she's almost run over chasing a dog, but is saved by electronics mogul William Stacks (Foxx). Stacks is running for Mayor of New York City. His campaign manager Guy Danilly (Bobby Cannavale) points out that saving Annie boosts his popularity and insists he take her out to dinner, then unofficially adopt her for a week.

Annie's thrilled to live in Stacks' fancy penthouse apartment and befriend his pretty British assistant Grace Farrell (Byrne). She finally bonds with Stacks when she discovers that he too started out poor in New York, even letting her adopt the dog she was chasing and convincing him to take her and her foster friends to a big movie premiere. Things start to unravel when Annie reveals that she can't read, and Guy decides that she's more of a hindrance than a help to Will's campaign. He and Miss Hannigan orchestrate an elaborate scheme to hire people to play Annie's parents and get rid of her. "Get rid" turns out to be "kidnap." When Stacks realizes what's going on, he sends half the city to stop them...and realizes just how important this little girl has become to him and Grace.

The Song and Dance: The cast is the thing in this colorful rags-to-riches tale. Byrne and Foxx work well together as the germaphobe, workaholic businessman and his devoted secretary, both of whom soften with Annie. Cannavale is appropriately smarmy as the obnoxious manager who only cares about popularity, not people's feelings. The little girls are funny, and Wallis is a ball of energy as Annie, the little girl who will never give up believing, whether it's in her parents' return or Stacks being a good person inside.

Favorite Number: "Opportunity" is the best of the new songs, and it's performed twice. I prefer the energetic finale that has everyone together to celebrate the opening of Stacks' newest endeavor. "Hard Knock Life" has some nice choreography as the girls whirl around Miss Hannigan's apartment building. Annie, Grace, and the secretary Miss Kovacevic (Stephanie Kurtzuba) get to enjoy the delights of Stacks' elaborate condo in "I Think I'm Gonna Like It Here."

What I Don't Like: A lot of the plot is contrived, overly sentimental, and simply does not make sense. First of all, Annie did go to school. How is it she's never learned to read? Everything with Annie and Stacks, especially how he literally runs into her, happens way too fast. One minute, Annie's chasing the dog, and the next, she's an internet sensation and almost everyone adores her. The first performance of "Opportunity," where she's clearly trying to play matchmaker to Will and Grace, is more annoying than cute. The movie is just trying too hard to be both adorably sweet and hip enough for the rap crowd...and doesn't really succeed at either. (And they still didn't need the tacked-on action sequence in the end.)

And then, there's Diaz. She's supposed to be a drunk former rock star, but she's really way out of her league in a musical. Her "Little Girls" has the girls join in to complain about how they want parents, and it's neither funny nor cute. Her sudden about-face works even less well than it did in the original. Like Stacks changing his mind about Annie, it's just too sudden and has no real explanation.

The Big Finale: In the end, despite them frequently drawing parallels between the Great Depression and the recession of the early 2010's, they just try too hard to make everything modern. If you have a little girl who does enjoy rap, she might want to see this; everyone else will probably be fine with the 1982 version.

Home Media: As one of the more recent movies I've reviewed, this is easily found in all formats, including many streaming companies.

DVD
Blu-Ray
Amazon Prime