Jackson Booth-Millard The original 1982 movie, an adaptation of the Broadway hit, based on the popular comic strip, is fun and worthwhile enough, this contemporary remake sees the title character going from red-headed moppet to an African American child with a big afro hairdo, I was willing to give it a chance, produced by Will Smith, Jada Pinkett Smith and Shawn "Jay-Z" Carter, directed by Will Gluck (Easy A, Friends with Benefits). Basically in Harlem, Manhattan Island, New York City, Annie Bennett (Golden Globe nominated Quvenzhané Wallis) lives in foster care with several other girls under the care of Colleen Hannigan (Razzie nominated Cameron Diaz), a bitter former singer taking the benefits, who spends most of her time drinking. Annie spends Fridays waiting outside Domani's restaurant, hoping her parents will return, as promised on a receipt note. One day, a city inspector checks on Hannigan's treatment of the girls, she sees her social security number on his form, and goes to find information, but she learns nothing she does not already know about herself. Annie saves a Shiba Inu dog from bullies, she steps out into the road, but is saved by mogul William Stacks (Jamie Foxx), who is running for mayor. Stacks' campaign manager Guy Danlily (Bobby Cannavale) tells him the rescue was caught on video and has gone viral, boosting his popularity, Guy convinces Stacks to take Annie in, to live with him, in a scheme to boost his campaign. Annie enjoys her new surroundings, and makes friends with many staff members, including Stacks' assistant Grace Farrell (Rose Byrne), and she adopts the dog from earlier, naming her Sandy. Bonding with Annie, Stacks reveals he never really knew his father, due to his work commitments, but believed he could understand him if he worked as hard, Annie also helps Stacks and Grace realise their romantic feelings for each other. Annie requests Stacks take her and her friends from Miss Hannigan's foster home to a movie premiere, Stacks is at first disinterested in the movie, but becomes a fan, along with Grace, Annie also insist they go to the after-movie party. Annie's friends are returned home, Annie then shows Grace her Friday routine of waiting for her parents; Grace sympathises and agrees to keep this secret from Stacks. At Hannigan's foster home, the girls accidentally wake her up; Hannigan snaps at them, saying rich people are not nice and will ditch anyone they don't like anymore, recalling her past, in a drunken state she recalls her former music career. Annie is asked to read a speech at a charity event, she runs out, revealing she cannot read, despite being 10 years old and attending school, Stacks decides to find a special-ed teacher for Annie, but Guy believes she will only hinder the mayoral campaign. Teaming up with Hannigan, Guy plans to find imposters to pose as Annie's parents, so that Stacks appears to have found them, to boost his popularity and win, Guy and Hannigan will share the payment. However, Guy plans to dump Annie back into the system following the election, with no care for her wellbeing, by the point Hannigan is having second thoughts, the imposters have already kidnapped Annie. Hannigan tells Stacks about the plan, Guy is fired, and Stacks, Grace, Hannigan and the girls board a helicopter to chase the getaway car. Annie is mistaken in thinking that Stacks arranged her kidnapping, the kidnappers assumed he paid them, not Guy, when she is rescued, she refuses to believe him that he had no knowledge of the scheme. To prove his innocence and he truly cares for Annie, Stacks announces to the press that he is quitting the mayoral race, and Annie helps Grace and Stacks admit their love for each other, all three of them dance and sing happily. Later, Annie announces the opening of the "Stacks Literacy Centre", to help children like her learn how to read, everyone sings her song "Tomorrow", Hannigan attempts to sing, only to be stopped. Also starring Lost's Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje as Nash, David Zayas as Lou, Dorian Missick as Annie's "Dad" and Tracie Thoms as Annie's "Mom". Wallis is suited to the leading role, she is both cute and confident, Diaz is nowhere near as memorable as Carol Burnett, and Foxx is adequate as the cynical billionaire won round by the youngster. It sticks to the same sort of plot, girl brought in to change a rich man's reputation and wins him round, only differences are she is an orphan in foster care rather than an orphanage, and everything is more modern, including the use of technology to assist characters. "Hard Knock Life" and the other original songs you are still just about able to sing along to, but it is a bit haphazard, the script is predictable, the choreography is not as slick, and the use of more vibrant colours is distracting, it is a fair but slightly sloppy musical. It was nominated the Golden Globe for Best Original Song for "Opportunity", and it won the Razzie for Worst Remake, Rip-Off or Sequel. Okay!

Clifton Johnson I really wanted to like this movie, partly because of nostalgia and partly because of the actors' charms. But it was not good. There were far too many awkward and obvious moments between those poorly dubbed musical numbers with loud drum machines. They somehow managed to make this story even more cliche...which is pretty darn impressive. I loved my Annie; my kids will love this Annie. Me? I pass.

studioAT Having not seen any of the other film adaptations of 'Annie' or indeed the stage show I was actually one of the few perhaps who could watch this film with an open mind without constantly thinking "oh they did this better in this version..." I found this modern 'Annie' to be a warm hearted film, one in which everyone breaks into song, yes, but for a reason.It's a simple story told well, and a lot of that credit goes to writer/director, Will Gluck, who controls all the important plot points/moments well.I enjoyed this film.

ja-191-280465 When I first saw the previews for this film, I was far from interested. But when my curiosity got the best of me, I decided to give it a chance. Although I wasn't totally impressed, I do believe the film had its fair share of cute moments. You should know that this is nothing like the 1982 original. So if you're expecting the characters to be anything like Aileen Quinn, Albert Finney or Carol Burnett you will be extremely disappointed.Our new Annie is played by Hollywood newcomer Quvenzhane Wallis. As the lead, she is an admirable young girl with a perky attitude who helps those around her see the bright side of life. Annie lives in a Harlem apartment with her mean, snotty foster mother and four foster sisters. Hoping to reunite with her parents, she goes to an Italian restaurant called Domani where her parents abandoned her leaving behind a note. While rescuing a stray dog, Annie's life gradually changes for the better when Will Stacks a billionaire and mayoral candidate agrees to take her in to help further his chances of getting elected. Although not right away, Will eventually warms up to Annie and the two develop a strong bond.Quvenzhane Wallis is absolutely adorable as the lead. The movie is definitely worth watching for her performance alone. The four girls were cute at times but they don't have much to work with as far as screen time and dialogue. Cameron Diaz was far from believable as Miss Hannigan. She's no Carol Burnett but this is by far one of her worst performances ever. Jamie Foxx was goof and quite comical as the cocky, future mayor and cell phone mogul. Many of the scenes he shared with Wallis later on in the film are heartwarming and fun to watch. However, there are certain plot points that the film could've done without. The dancing scene between Bobby Cannavale and Cameron Diaz was just plain dumb. The singing was bad and it had nothing to do with the theme of the movie and therefore seemed pointless. The "auditioning parents" scene was just as bad. Auditioning random strangers to pretend to be Annie's parents was a horrible idea. Perhaps Mr. Gluck could've brought out the worst in Miss Diaz's character through better directing and dialogue. Not to mention the whole "I used to be a bright star"/member of C&C Music factory was a complete joke. I mean talk about unbelievable!!!!! Jamie Foxx, Rose Byrne,Bobby Cannavale, Cameron Diaz and David Zayas are all good actors. But they don't have much to work with to really shine. Aside from a few catchy tunes, cute kids and an impressionable lead actress, "Annie is good, but not great.