Movie Reaction: Annie

Formula: Seriously? It's Annie. The formula is "Annie". That's it.

Why I Saw It: It looked cute and I probably have an unhealthy obsession with Rose Byrne.

Cast: If you needed this to realize that Quvenzhane Wallis is super talented, well, then you are with the majority of people who haven't seen her Oscar nominated debut in Beasts of the Southern Wild. Unsurprisingly [for me] she is wonderful in this and pulls off scenes repeatedly that wouldn't work with a lesser young actress. The rest of the cast, Jamie Foxx, Rose Byrne, Cameron Diaz, Bobby Cannavale, Adewala Akinnuoye-Agbaje (Mr. Eko!), assorted other children are all letting loose and having fun. It should be noted that not all singers are created equal, but no one is Russell Crowe-level distracting.

Plot: They modernized the well-known story and the changes were fitting. This time, Annie is a foster child (orphans are too sad, I guess). She starts living with billionaire Will Starks (Foxx) as a publicity stunt for his mayoral race. Hannigan (Diaz) is more of a punch line than a villain. It's certainly a kids movie, but there were a surprising number of more adult jokes in there or little touches that didn't need to be there for younger audiences to appreciate it. It's probably best to just ignore every beat of the third act though.

Elephant in the Room: How much of a musical is it? Not much of one. I didn't mind, but it really didn't try to be a musical very hard. It was weird. Musicals don't tend to call attention to the fact that they're musicals. This one kind of admits to the singing happening, basically killing the fourth wall. No, it's very weird if you think about it all.

To Sum Things Up:
How you walk into it will decide if you like it or not. I wanted to like it and did. It's a charming movie. The cast is affable and the story never takes itself too seriously for very long. It's funnier than I expected, while the songs are more of a mixed bag. Of course, if you aren't looking to like it, the story has a lot of holes and/or implausibilities (namely, regarding the chase scene at the end) and, despite how much fun she's having, Cameron Diaz isn't great in this (too much Carol Burnett, not enough creating her own character). It won't be topping any lists for me. That doesn't mean the movie wasn't delightful. 

Verdict (?): Weakly Recommend