Movie: Nanny McPhee (CH, F, R)

I went to see Nanny McPhee by myself because no one I know shares my intense admiration of Colin Firth. Imagine my delight to find an enjoyable movie for children and with children that did not make me clutch my stomach and groan!

CF plays Mr. Brown, a widower with seven children. He obviously still loves his wife very much and has conversations with her about the trials of life (these are directed toward her carefully-preserved parlor chair). Through these conversations, we find that her hideous, overbearing aunt (Angela Lansbury) has decreed he must remarry within the month or lose the allowance that keeps his children clothed and fed.

These children do genuinely awful things, but we see that the entire family is coping (badly) with the mother's death. The father spoils the children because they miss their mother, and the children misbehave in part to try to get their father's attention (he spends much of his time writing letters, reading the newspaper, and generally not dealing with them).

Meanwhile, Mr. Brown has completely run out of nannies. His brood are so ill-behaved that the nanny service won't even speak to him any more. When Nanny McPhee (Emma Thompson) appears on his doorstep, she seems like an answer to a prayer.

This is a sweet story of hope and romance. There were also several laugh-out-loud moments. A genuine delight. Grade: A