Annie (2014)

This unnecessary Christmas time Annie remake crashes into the ground- with a thud! The film grinds cloying moments with sly pop songs, in conflict with its well intentioned, Broadway musical roots. Although some of the songs appear to have been arranged with social-media trending care, the film lacks any musical, comical or dramatic coherence during its entire running time. Each number lurches from one empty guttering into the next. The entire cast appears to be embarrassed of what they are taking a part of as if it were Annie's execution and not a celebration of the character's actions.

Meanwhile, Jamie Foxx acts in a film contrary to the one we are all watching him burn in. A shame, because Foxx has the conflicted confidence of Daddy Warbucks um, excuse me, Mr. Will Stacks should. He is wasted. Cameron Diaz fares a little better as the supposedly villainous, Colleen Hannigan. Although Diaz lacks a singing voice, her best moment warbling "Little Girls" is a pleasure to watch. Unfortunately, she is not the focus of the film, although this reviewer wished she were. Diaz in some ways embodies the strength and attitude Annie should have in this interpretation. Did I mention her character was fired from C+C Music Factory? Why was that needed as the character's backstory?

Quvenzhané Wallis as Annie is not a bad young actress but she is charmless, robot like in her interpretation of the titled character. Annie is supposed to be a bitter-sweet to saccharin figure. Used by corrupt minds, with her strong heart she is able to brush off the dirt long enough to sing about "Tomorrow." Convincing herself and the audience in believing better days are to come. Yet, Wallis displays none of these emotions with command. Instead, excusing her acting choices with stilting head bobs inappropriate for punctuating dramatic moments which come off like a bad attitude. Her voice is fine but her comic and dramatic choices are in their infancy. She needs time to develop. Still, it is not totally Wallis's fault. "Tomorrow" is tossed off to the side and so are the songs "Easy Street" and "You're Never Fully Dressed Without A Smile (sung by the disembodied voice of the currently popular Sia)." None of these deserving songs are given their own proper musical numbers which is odd- for a movie billed as a musical. Note: "It's The Hard Knock Life," is the only song to receive the "Broadway" treatment. I wonder if producer Jay-Z was behind this editorial choice?

By updating and bastardizing these songs, the commitments of the actors are lost on its intended viewers leading to bored children and groaning adults. The filmmakers did not think Sandy was important enough either. The dog adds nothing to the film and only appears for a few seconds. Sandy, we wish we got to know you.