Director: Will Gluck Starring: Quvenzhané Wallis, Cameron Diaz, Jamie Foxx, Rose Byrne, Bobby Cannavale Writer: Will Gluck, Aline Brosh McKenna | 2.5/5 Annie Will Gluck’s Annie remix is a film alive with music, with real-world sounds - jack hammers, street sweepers, etc. - syncopated to danceable beats and rhythms. When your movie is produced by Jay Z, what do you expect? If living with Hov is anything like this, I am feeling some serious envy for little Blue Ivy. If you have any interest in seeing this remake, chances are you have seen either the 1982 movie or caught a live dramatization. If it is worth anything, I have done both and the live dramatization left more of an impression. The point is, you know the story, however you witnessed it. Gluck does not shake up the plot, unless you consider giving everyone smartphones “shaking up." Annie (Quvenzhané Wallis) is still an orphan, though she would insist to be called a “foster child,” who is forced to live in a girls’ home under the tutelage of a bitter Ms. Hannigan (Cameron Diaz). That is, until Mr. Stacks (Jamie Foxx), a wealthy man running for office, sees Annie as an opportunity. Despite the phony foundation, Stacks and Annie grow to care for one another. You know the tale. What I would rather talk about is what exactly Gluck, best known for comedy hits Easy A and Friends With Benefits, brings to the table. The answer: not really much. He tells the story without any revelatory twists or reflective new angles, which makes it feel, more times than not, like a cash grab. Luckily, he has a grade-A cast to heave around the weight he shrugs off. |
I mentioned earlier that you probably found interest in Annie 2.0 thanks to a fond memory of the original. I, on the other hand, wanted nothing but more time with the electric Quvenzhané Wallis. Wallis, the star of 2012’s post-Katrina fairy tale Beasts of the Southern Wild, is a magnet for our attention. If her youthful spirit does not melt you in the first five minutes, you might as well go on home (because outside of that, there is not much else to enjoy).
Following in her vast shadow is the rest of the cast. Jamie Foxx plays Stacks with the ease and charm we have come to expect from him. Cameron Diaz, though you may get tired of her character, gives it her all as well. Rose Byrne (Neighbors) and Bobby Cannavale (Boardwalk Empire, Blue Jasmine) also find themselves getting in on the fun - or should I say “fun” -, as does Lost’s Adele Akinnuoye-Agbaje.
Last are the songs. While a few of the modern treatments work, most are not quite as improved. “Hard-Knock Life” becomes the song it was always meant to be, the hip-hop beat giving the song a poppy vibe - I mean that as a compliment. “Tomorrow,” on the other hand, was meant to be softer and more intimate to Annie’s feelings, as it is in the original. Gluck’s “Tomorrow” rattles with a busy arrangement that it simply does not need. “Opportunity,” a new ballad co-penned by Sia, is more along the lines of what “Tomorrow” should have been. Now that I think about it, “Tomorrow” may have slightly degraded on purpose to give more spotlight to the new song. Hmm.
If this were a better movie, all the songs would have been sung by Ms. Wallis. Sadly, each character gets their own tune; some, like Stacks, get a few. The other jams never quite click like Annie’s do. All of Foxx’s songs, especially the Wallis duet/helicopter jam “This City’s Yours,” feel like music videos for Stacks' secret, failing R&B career. In one scene, Stacks begins to quote “The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air,” but his standout numbers begins and ends there. The same goes for the Diaz-fronted tune “Little Girls.”
I do not necessarily blame the failure of the songs on the actors, who are all completely dedicated to and aware of their characters’ over-the-top loony personas. I point my finger at Gluck. More times than not, the musical numbers fail in presentation, not performance. The camera never stays still for long enough for any of the songs’ emotions to sink in, making them feel as over-caffeinated as a Maroon 5 video.
This is a fault that resounds through the whole production. I doubt I will ever find myself yearning to see this remake ever again; but thanks to a spirited cast led by the indelible Quvenzhané Wallis, Annie circa-2014 was enjoyable enough to justify my ticket price.
Following in her vast shadow is the rest of the cast. Jamie Foxx plays Stacks with the ease and charm we have come to expect from him. Cameron Diaz, though you may get tired of her character, gives it her all as well. Rose Byrne (Neighbors) and Bobby Cannavale (Boardwalk Empire, Blue Jasmine) also find themselves getting in on the fun - or should I say “fun” -, as does Lost’s Adele Akinnuoye-Agbaje.
Last are the songs. While a few of the modern treatments work, most are not quite as improved. “Hard-Knock Life” becomes the song it was always meant to be, the hip-hop beat giving the song a poppy vibe - I mean that as a compliment. “Tomorrow,” on the other hand, was meant to be softer and more intimate to Annie’s feelings, as it is in the original. Gluck’s “Tomorrow” rattles with a busy arrangement that it simply does not need. “Opportunity,” a new ballad co-penned by Sia, is more along the lines of what “Tomorrow” should have been. Now that I think about it, “Tomorrow” may have slightly degraded on purpose to give more spotlight to the new song. Hmm.
If this were a better movie, all the songs would have been sung by Ms. Wallis. Sadly, each character gets their own tune; some, like Stacks, get a few. The other jams never quite click like Annie’s do. All of Foxx’s songs, especially the Wallis duet/helicopter jam “This City’s Yours,” feel like music videos for Stacks' secret, failing R&B career. In one scene, Stacks begins to quote “The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air,” but his standout numbers begins and ends there. The same goes for the Diaz-fronted tune “Little Girls.”
I do not necessarily blame the failure of the songs on the actors, who are all completely dedicated to and aware of their characters’ over-the-top loony personas. I point my finger at Gluck. More times than not, the musical numbers fail in presentation, not performance. The camera never stays still for long enough for any of the songs’ emotions to sink in, making them feel as over-caffeinated as a Maroon 5 video.
This is a fault that resounds through the whole production. I doubt I will ever find myself yearning to see this remake ever again; but thanks to a spirited cast led by the indelible Quvenzhané Wallis, Annie circa-2014 was enjoyable enough to justify my ticket price.