Nanny McPhee
Universal Pictures | Release Date: January 27, 2006 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
59
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 30 Critic Reviews
Positive:
18
Mixed:
11
Negative:
1
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
83
Christian Science MonitorPeter Rainer
What actors! The great Miriam Margolyes has a wonderful cameo as a scullery maid, and Colin Firth manfully endures a face full of frosting. And then there's Angela Lansbury, playing her first movie role in 20 years as the villainous Aunt Adelaide. Read full review
75
Chicago Sun-TimesRoger Ebert
Will kids like the movie? I suspect they will. Kids like to see other kids learning the rules even if they don't much want to learn them themselves. Read full review
75
Chicago TribuneMichael Phillips
Nanny McPhee maintains a satisfying, all-ages balance between broad comedy and human warmth. Read full review
75
USA TodayClaudia Puig
The film's look, fashioned by production designer Michael Howells, is noteworthy for its vibrant colors and fantastical feel. Read full review
75
TV Guide MagazineKen Fox
This quirky, uncommonly intelligent adaptation is a strange delight. Read full review
75
Baltimore SunChris Kaltenbach
True, the movie tends toward the treacly at times, and the children's mischievousness seems a bit forced. But Thompson's turn as a glammed-down Mary Poppins with an even more no-nonsense attitude is hard to resist. Read full review
75
Boston GlobeWesley Morris
Thompson adapted the screenplay from Christianna Brand's "Nurse Matilda" books, and she and director Kirk Jones balance the slapstick and levity with darker enchantments. At its most enjoyable the film feels like Roald Dahl's idea of "Mary Poppins." Read full review
75
Portland OregonianM. E. Russell
The cast is almost uniformly spectacular -- particularly Angela Lansbury as a wicked aunt and Raphael Coleman as the sardonic, bespectacled child who delivers hilarious, verbose asides and somehow makes it look effortless. Read full review
75
San Francisco ChronicleMick LaSalle
Underlying the story is sadness, a sense of mystery and a quality of pain. Enjoy the movie for its surface pleasures, but when it's over, it's those subterranean qualities that will keep it lingering in the mind. Read full review
75
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Kate Taylor
It's a brilliant opening, but the difficulty with the familiar plot formula wherein a special stranger wins over a difficult household is that once the spell has been cast, all the plot tension, and much of the movie magic, dissipates. Read full review
70
VarietyLeslie Felperin
Under the surface, the movie has a streak of Roald Dahl-style darkness that dilutes the sugar. Read full review
70
Los Angeles TimesGene Seymour
A spicy little pastry with just the right proportions of flakiness and gooeyness. Read full review
70
The New York TimesStephen Holden
In the endearing but somewhat scatterbrained British film Nanny McPhee, Emma Thompson creates an indelible character reminiscent of Mary Poppins as conceived by the author P. L. Travers and the illustrator Mary Shepard. Read full review
70
Dallas ObserverStaff (Not credited)
Kirk Jones (Waking Ned Devine) directs with skill, Thompson's screenplay (this is a labor of love) is witty, and the classy cast includes Colin Firth (as the kids' baffled widower-father), Angela Lansbury, Imelda Staunton, and Celia Imrie. Good fun. Read full review
63
ReelViewsJames Berardinelli
An excellent movie… if you're a seven-year old girl. That's less a negative evaluation than it is a statement of fact. This isn't a "family film;" it's a "children's film." Read full review
63
New York Daily NewsJami Bernard
There's magic afoot, even if the movie is more serviceable than magical. Read full review
63
Miami HeraldPeter Debruge
This is, after all, "Mary Poppins" turned on its head. Read full review
63
Philadelphia InquirerCarrie Rickey
This bracing adaptation of the Nurse Matilda books by Christianna Brand is the acidic antidote to Mary Poppins sweetness. Read full review
60
The Hollywood ReporterRay Bennett
Colorful, noisy and brimming with special effects, the picture may please young audiences simply looking for loud action, but its corny storyline and brittle lack of warmth may discourage both parents and children. Read full review
60
Village VoiceJaime Mastromonica
If you have someone under 10 to take to the movies, this one is charming and painless. Read full review
60
Chicago ReaderJ.R. Jones
Highly recommended if you want to see a distinguished cast of British character actors tarted up in garish Victorian costumes and badly executing a Three Stooges-style cake fight. Read full review
60
The New RepublicStanley Kauffmann
I hazard the guess that quite small children--pre-science fiction, pre-heroics--will enjoy its fairy-tale quality. Read full review
58
The A.V. ClubScott Tobias
There are times when Nanny McPhee seems designed to drive all but the most sugar-crazed spazzes out of the theater: Colors that should never go together clash like a tempest, the camera whisks around in manic curlicues, and a musical score makes certain that nothing magical goes underemphasized. Read full review
50
Entertainment WeeklyOwen Gleiberman
One of those raucous, hyperactive kiddie flicks that knocks you upside the head from its opening frame. Read full review
50
Wall Street JournalJoe Morgenstern
Oversweetened or not, "Mary Poppins" remains a deservedly beloved work of art. Nanny McPhee is an overproduced industrial enterprise.
50
Seattle Post-IntelligencerWilliam Arnold
It's a colorful and exuberant but by-the-numbers and fairly charm-free concoction. Read full review
50
Austin ChronicleMarrit Ingman
Parents might appreciate a lighter hand with the barnyard whimsy and food fights, but overall the movie doesn't condescend about heavy matters (grief, healing, and blended families) and is pleasantly diverting. Read full review
50
New York PostKyle Smith
I enjoy a cozy homage to Dickens - it beats another ripoff of "The Matrix" - but though the movie has a gentle spirit, neither the actors, whose performances are broad caricatures, nor Thompson bring any wit to it. Read full review
40
Washington PostDesson Thomson
Even Thompson, the one you look forward to watching, is disappointing. Read full review
20
SalonStephanie Zacharek
There's nothing offhand or spontaneous-feeling about Nanny McPhee; it's a highly mechanical piece of work, and its potentially delightful details are wasted. Read full review
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