Annie

The Sun movie review: Updated ‘Annie’ falls flat

Thursday February 5, 2015 | By:Tony Baksa |

One Sun

Little Orphan Annie, Daddy Warbucks and Sandy the dog started out as comic strip characters in the Great Depression. Vastly popular, this comic strip brought optimism to a bleak period in our history. Annie, the eternal optimist with the big round eyes and big red hair has never left us. She has seen the lights of Broadway in what has become a classic musical. Filmed in 1982 with a star-studded cast and then again as a television special, also with a star-studded cast, Annie and friends continued to gain admirers.

Now, a newly reimagined “Annie” has hit the silver screen with a thud. This lackluster production has subtracted everything from the original that was charming and relevant. Not only have the characters been changed and renamed – except for Annie, of course – but the classic score has been so altered that the songs are unrecognizable. I am not a purist, but this is ridiculous.

The updated plot revolves around Annie who, in this version, is no longer an orphan. She is now a foster child. Annie pines for her biological parents, as in the original. She shares a cramped bedroom with several other foster children – all girls under the supervision of mean Miss Hannigan, dreadfully played by Cameron Diaz. On her daily excursions in looking for her parents, she encounters Mr. Stacks, a cell phone tycoon with political aspirations. For some stupid reason, he takes our little waif into his home for media coverage, in hopes it will soften his public image and get him elected as mayor. Annie goes from Hannigan’s dreary New York City tenement to Stacks’ high-tech penthouse. Of course, the predictable happens, as lovable Annie melts Mr. Stack’s cold heart. Along the way, we are assaulted with the worst musical numbers I have ever witnessed on screen. Lacking production value and with the most awkward staging, the songs fall as flat as the performances.

The cast appears clueless. The performances are so weak as to be nonexistent. To be fair, the actors, all good in other movies, have apparently been left to their own devices without any direction. Produced, written and directed by Will Gluck, this vanity production is so wrongheaded. What a missed opportunity to bring this delightful musical to a new generation. Jamie Foxx seems to be sleepwalking through his part. Rose Byrne, as his assistant and long suffering secret admirer, is zombie-like, in this flattened-out film.

The usually wonderful Bobby Cannaval is awful as a crooked opportunist. Quvenzshane Wallis as Annie has energy to spare and too many smiles to bare. She’s cute, is the kindest thing I can say for her performance.

With songs like the iconic “Tomorrow” plus “Hard Knock Life” and “Maybe” so unrecognizable in their updated treatments, one wonders why Gluck and company were inspired to remake “Annie.” Did they think they could improve on an already good thing with newly written, extremely inferior songs? Or did they believe they could make it better by adding a superfluous car chase?

To see “Annie” at her best, check out the 1982 film version, directed by the great John Huston starring Carol Burnett and Albert Finney, or the 1999 TV film directed by Rob Marshall starring Cathy Bates. These are available on cable and streaming on syndication services.

There is also a national tour of the stage play coming our way this year. All three options are better bets, to see “Annie” in all her rightful glory.

“Annie” is currently in theaters.

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