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Annie

1999, Movie, NR, 95 mins

Annie: Review

Thomas Meehan and Mark Charnin's popular 1977 Broadway musical, based on Harold Gray's long-running comic strip, was first filmed in 1982 by John Huston; this made-for-television remake marked the feature directing debut of CHICAGO's Rob Marshall. New York City, 1933: Eleven-year-old Annie (Alicia Morton) lives at a Dickensian orphanage run by hard-hearted Miss Hannigan (Kathy Bates), whose dislike of little girls is legendary. Unlike the other children, Annie may not in fact be an orphan: Her parents left her at the orphanage as a baby, along with a much-read letter that suggests they plan to return. Annie regularly runs away in hopes of finding them, making herself Hannigan's least favorite charge. The girl's bleak fortunes take a turn for the better when she's chosen to spend the Christmas season with millionaire Oliver Warbucks (Victor Garber), a high-profile industrialist in need of a little image polishing. What could make him look better than a selfless act of charity toward a pitiful orphaned child? The truth, however, is that Warbucks doesn't like children much better than Miss Hannigan does... or so he thinks. But the spunky Annie first wins over first Warbucks's personal assistant, Grace Farrell (Audra McDonald), and then his heart. When Warbucks learns that all Annie wants for Christmas is her parents, he offers a generous reward for information leading to their whereabouts. Miss Hannigan and her low-life brother, Rooster (Alan Cumming), hear about the offer and concoct a plan. They'll disguise themselves as "Ralph and Grace Mudge," claim to be Annie's long-lost parents and collect the money, then dispose of the inconvenient child at their convenience. Rooster's dim-bulb girlfriend, Lily (Kristin Chenoweth), is also in on the plot. Needless to say, their scheming comes to naught and everything works out. Marshall, who began his career as a show dancer and later segued into choreography, both choreographed and directed this popular Disney television film, which features a strong, theater-trained cast — Garber, Bates, Cumming and Chenoweth are all outstanding — and is carefully pitched to appeal equally to children and adults. The "Easy Street" number, in which Rooster and Miss Hannigan imagine a rosy future, has a terrific raunchy energy that never degenerates into vulgarity, while the "Hard-Knock Life" sequence is less maudlin than usual. Ever the Broadway insider, Marshall gave a small but showy cameo to Andrea McArdle, the Broadway production's first Annie. leave a comment --Maitland McDonagh