Annie (2014)
Two and half Stars out of Five
PG
Annie: Quvenzhané Wallis
Will Stacks: Jamie Foxx
Grace: Rose Byrne
Guy: Bobby Cannavale
Miss Hannigan: Cameron Diaz
Director: Will Gluck
Writer: Will Gluck and Aline Brosh McKenna
Music: Greg Kurstin
Cinematography: Michael Grady
Annie (2014) was
an ardent effort, but ultimately failed to deliver. The decision by writer director Will Gluck to
re-set the 1982 version (itself set in a quasi-1940’s milieu) in modern day New
York City was an interesting choice with respect to the whole concept of
updating a period piecemovie to contemporary scenes. Concurrent with the time change there
were additionally a number of character re-writes; most notably the conversion
of Daddy Warbucks into cell phone magnate/mayoral candidate Will Stacks. This
latter change is I think symptomatic of the problems with which the movie is laden:
updates that seem not only pointless, but in many cases distracting.
The movie begins with Annie (Quvenzhané Wallis) in a school
room where she quickly displays her boundless joy and propensity to burst into
song. The first song was in some ways an inspired foray into improvised
percussion as the various students clap and stomp their way through the song.
Wallis is an outstanding young actress with a fair voice; but this first song
like so many in this movie failed to resonate with me. Clearly a great deal of
thought and practice went into the careful performance of the song, and yet it
just isn’t a pleasing performance. This is a pattern that repeats time and
again throughout the movie. Another good example is the soon to follow
introduction to Annie’s foster home with her fellow wards under the care of
Miss Hanigan (Cameron Diaz). The other young actresses all have fine voices, but
as they work their way through “Hard Knock Life”, I just kept sitting there unhappy
with the new version of the song. To be sure, it is easy for one to become
wholly engaged with a particular version of a song, so much so that any
subsequent version sounds false, but I am not completely convinced this is the
case in this movie. The choreography and scene setting continually seemed thematically
disconnected from the songs being sung.
There are two great exceptions to this point view: “Who Am I”
and “I Don’t Need Anything But You”. Both songs feature Jamie Foxx. He is the
prime reason to see this movie – should you choose to see it. He has a strong
pleasant voice and superb acting ability. “Who Am I” was sung by Foxx, Diaz and
Wallis in an intriguing series of scenes that segued from one singer to the
next. This attempt to display each singer’s emotional state and to provide a
contrast between the three was again not really successful. Again and again, I
can see and appreciate director Gluck’s attempt to try something new in terms
of telling the story of Annie, but it just doesn’t work in this movie version.
If you want to see Annie, rent the 1982 version with Albert
Finney as Daddy Warbucks and Ailene Quinn as Annie. Their performances and the
direction by John Huston will far more adequately tell her story and do so in
the setting (i.e. 1940’s New York) where the story does not seem like an
anachronism. Finney’s performance and Quinn’s singing are not that much better
than Foxx and Wallis, but the nature of the story telling is just simply
superior. Annie’s story is one that ought not be updated to contemporary times;
it needs to be left in the odd little version of 1920-40’s America originally envisioned
by the comics writer, Harold Gray.
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