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Genre
Director
Country
USA
Cast
Aileen Quinn, Albert Finney, Carol Burnett, Tim Curry, Bernadette Peters, Ann Reinking, Edward Herrmann, Geoffrey Holder, Roger Minami, Toni Ann Gisondi, Rosanne Sorrentino, Lara Berk, April Lerman, Robin Ignico, Lucie Stewart, Lois de Banzie, Peter Marshall, Irving Metzman, I. M. Hobson, Colleen Zenk Pinter, Lu Leonard, Victor Griffin, Jerome Collamore, Jon Richards
Storyline
Annie (Aileen Quinn) is a fiery young orphan girl who lives in a miserable orphanage run by the tyrannical Miss Hannigan (Carol Burnett). Her seemingly hopeless situation will change when she is selected to spend a short time at the residence of billionaire industrialist Oliver Warbucks (Albert Finney).
Opinion
I didn't grew up watching Annie, and I've never seen the popular Broadway play. This film has been my very first approach to this world, and if the stage play is anything like this film, I really don't get what made the musical a classic.
Annie does have few good musical numbers, but isn't much engaging, lacks comedy, and feels rather wooden.
The main problem here is the plot. Besides the fact that the course of events is very predictable, it is when the story turns into a search for Annie's real parents followed by a kidnapping that the film really hits the bottom.
The characters look fake and cartoonish, and some of them are almost pointless. I don't know what was Punjab's role in the comic strip, but he hasn't any reason to be in this film.
Also there are several things in the film that, in my opinion, are not very appropriate for a family movie. I don't get why Miss Hannigan is transformed into an alcoholic vamp - I read she wasn't like that in Broadway's version, and orphans and maids showing their underwear during musical numbers may please fathers, and perverts but are not family material.
As for the acting, Aileen Quinn is dreadful to watch, her reactions seem prompted by someone out of the camera range, and she doesn't look like an orphan of the 1930's, but like a sitcom orphan. Albert Finney is completely wasted in this film. Ann Reinking seems too cold, and you can't feel the maternal warmth she is supposed to deliver. Carol Burnett is a huge disappointment.
Great review. You know a movie has issues when Carol Burnett can't muster up something funny. As a kid, my sister used to rush home every day for like three months and pop this into the VCR. I still haven't figured out why.
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