Annie – Film Review

Posted on 30th December 2014 by

Director: Will Gluck

Starring: Quvenzhané Wallis, Jamie Foxx, Cameron Diaz, Rose Byrne and Bobby Cannavale

Release Date: Out Now

Poor little orphan Annie. Not only is this film one of the victims from the Sony hack, but it’s also the victim of a very poor story, plot and so much more. Instead of being set during the great depression of the 1930’s, it’s set during the great recession of the present. Annie, no longer an orphan girl, is now a foster kid, with 4 others, living with Hannigan (Diaz). This is until Will Stacks (Foxx) saves her life, takes her in and uses her to boost his campaign to become Mayor of New York.

Let’s be fair for a second: ‘Annie’, the great Broadway musical, was never really well received when it came to the Big Screen. Even the 1982 original directed by John Huston didn’t do so well. It was nominated for numerous Razzie awards, including winning worst supporting Actress. This film is very likely to fall into the same cesspool of mediocrity, though a special mention should be given to Quvenzhané Wallis. whose performance as Annie was somewhat bearable and carried most of the film, with the aid of the terrific Bobby Cannavale.

It starts off fresh and somewhat enjoyable, with a nice little nod to the original version of Annie. A young red-haired girl, also named Annie, is giving a speech in class after which we go to this versions Annie (Wallis) as she delivers a performance piece with the class instead of having written anything down.
About 20 minutes into it, the film starts towards a downhill slope and shows no signs of being picked back up (Although admittedly, every now and then, one good joke is cracked. I will admit I did chuckle a few times, but it wasn’t enough to save the film.)

Being a huge fan of musicals, I was looking forward to seeing Annie. However,I got the sense that, with it being produced by Jay-Z, I was to expect something new age and contemporary to go with the times. This is exactly what I was treated to…and it hurts. The use of auto tune, along with heavy amounts of drum and bass, ruin almost everything about Annie that makes it great.
The version of ‘It’s a Hard Knock Life’ does convey some good use of drum and bass and, like most contemporary pop music, is irritatingly catchy. Having said that, it does not work well in the film. The choreography is below par for what should be an enormous performance piece of a song. In one of the more cringe worthy scenes, Will Stacks(Foxx) sings to Annie in a helicopter… you can imagine. The one musical highlight come about when Quvenzhané Wallis performs a terrific song called Opportunity, written by Sia. In doing so, she quells any doubts anyone may have had about her as a musical performer; this is her opportunity to express her own beautiful voice, and she nails it.

The story moves far too quickly and does not give us enough time to relate to any of the characters or even care about them. Even Annie is a rather unsympathetic character, having moved from her foster home to Will Stacks SMART Penthouse, where everything is powered by voice. As time goes on, you eventually see that this film is less about Annie and more about ‘Technology’ and how it has grown. Everything is so technologically advanced and we’re living in this world where we can track people using phones, see where they are, etc. They even have an Annie Blog (possibly using Twitter???), which is integral to the final act. This is a very social media driven film.

The characters are all rather bland, with the exception of Bobby Cannavale’s Guy, who plays Stacks campaign manager (shame about his singing voice though). There are a number of interesting cameos (including one that I genuinely didn’t see coming and is amazing!) but for the most part, they all feel superfluous and unnecessary. You don’t feel as though Jamie Foxx’s character arc has experienced any changes until the very end and even then, it feels both rushed and forced. The ultimate ‘lo-light’ of the film comes from Annie’s ‘parents’, pioneers of terrible acting prompters of a lot of head scratching.

Having said all of that, Annie is a film that kids will no doubt drag their parents to see…or possibly vice versa, depending on how much they love musicals. It is a fun movie to watch, provided you switch off your brain and relax into it. It also neatly ticks a little box on Quvenzhaneè Wallis’ CV, an actress who has just established a notably impressive acting range, and at such a young age. Considering her intensely real, almost documentary-style, performance in Beasts Of The Southern Wild, it boggles the mind that she can slip so easily into being the star of a flamboyant musical comedy. I feel as though she has a very bright future ahead. Who knows, maybe she’ll surprise everyone and do a horror movie next year?