A foster kid, who lives with her mean foster mom, sees her life change when business tycoon and New York mayoral candidate Will Stacks makes a thinly-veiled campaign move and takes her in.
Foxx himself just about emerges from this mess intact, largely by keeping his performance fairly restrained. But everyone and everything else is drowning in goo.
A mushy mix of sentiment and some off-key singing lets the air out of this beloved musical's limo tires.
The latest screen version of Annie – the fourth – has been taking quite a bashing from the US reviewers but doesn't seem markedly worse than any of its predecessors, or indeed than the original (and very sappy) musical itself. It's a film that you expect to come smothered in industrial amounts of schmaltz.
Verdict: Misconceived remake.
Like a tweet it will be here today and gone Tomorrow.
Thank heaven, then, for rising star Quvenzhané Wallis, whose winning presence just about saves the day.
This remake updates the musical to include hip-hop stylings, Twitter updates and YouTube references, but any charm has been left behind in John Huston’s 1982 film.
While really young children might enjoy it, the more mature may struggle.
Oof. Garbled and tacky, makes the original look like La Règle du jeu.
Butchering the big songs and adding a slew of bland new ones, it’s a musical with no interest in musicality, choreographed with all the grace of a drunken flash-mob.
General release. Check local listings for show times.
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