Every man, woman and child of all ages should experience the 1982 musical, Annie, at least once in his lifetime. Yes! It is that good and so incredibly memorable. Believe it or not, I had not even seen this award winning, star studded spectacular film myself until recently when I watched it with my five year old granddaughter. We have watched it nearly every evening since!

It's a Hard Knock Life and Tomorrow are just two of the catchy hit tunes that will stay stuck in the old memory banks for hours, days, even a month after the first viewing of this amazing hit movie about one very special orphan girl named Annie. I guarantee you this! You will find that singing, humming or dancing around the office or living room to any of the songs found in Annie will be difficult to avoid.

The cast is absolutely brilliant as well, with outstanding performances by Carol Burnett as Miss Hannigan, the overseer of the Hudson Street Home. She is winning as the alcoholic, attention-starved Queen B!tch who steals money from her little orphan girls and does mean spirited things to them. As I watched Carol perform her solo numbers, I was awed by her incredible talent and comedic appeal..

The adorable multitalented curly red haired girl who plays the title role is none other than the original Annie, Aileen Quinn. What a great talent and what an enormous set of pipes! When she belts out Tomorrow my grandchild and I still move to tears. My favorite Annie scene is when she finally tells the wealthy business tycoon who adopts her, "I love you, Daddy Warbucks!" I secretly wished that I could trade places with her.

Albert Finney as Daddy Warbucks, Bernadette Peters in the role of Lily, Tim Curry as Rooster and Ann Reinking as beautiful Grace provide additional outstanding performances that make this Broadway hit musical worth watching again and again.

~ The Plot ~
Annie is an orphan who lives with a group of girls at the Hannigan Orphan Home in 1930's New York. She and her gal pals all wish to be adopted some day. Although their daily existence is dim and dirty, their pleasant smiles and happy singing keeps them bright and cheerful. They are tormented by the awful woman who runs the orphanage yet each manages to have moments where they can laugh and enjoy themselves as they clean and clean a completely filthy "home".

Annie longs to be back with her parents who left her at the orphanage years earlier. She gets the opportunity of a lifetime when Grace appears at the doors of the orphanage seeking to take an orphan to live at the immense home of the wealthy billionaire, Daddy Warbucks. Little does he know that little Annie would melt his heart, win him over in the end and change his life in indelible ways.

Director John Huston does a dazzling job of bringing Thomas Meehan's musical to the big screen. He does a superb job of transitioning the play from the Broadway stage to film. The big dance numbers, especially You're Never fully Dressed Without A Smile, It's A Hard Knock Life and We Got Annie (which takes place outdoors), are simply magnificent.

The cinematography is equally well done, especially in the scenes that use overhead camera angles. Perhaps the best footage are of those with Rooster climbing up the bridge tower in pursuit of Annie. Brilliant!

Annie receives my highest recommendation! Might I suggest owning your very own copy rather than renting one. You will be watching Annie again and again. I guarantee it!




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This review is an entry into Sleeper54's Lean-n-Mean III. Are you up to the challenge of reviewing a product in 666 words or less?



Recommended:
Yes

Viewing Format: VHS
Video Occasion: Good for Groups