What Is It?
Think of crossing Mary Poppins with The Corpse Bride. Mr. Brown (Colin Firth) has things wrought. His wife has died. His job at the funeral home pays so little that he takes an allowance from his aunt. If he does not marry within the month his aunt will stop the allowance. And finally, his seven children are so good at driving away nannies that there are none left they have not driven off. Oh, and it's a Children's story.
A nanny, as magical as she is unattractive, appears on at the door. She already knows the family and wants only Sunday afternoons off. She explains that she has five lessons to teach the children and "When you need me, but do not want me, then I will stay. When you want me, but do not need me, then I have to go."
How Was It?
It was allot of fun. It's not off the wall or "Loud for the sake of keeping their short attention spans focused" kids stuff. It's well thought out wackiness. Of course Colin Firth was great and Emma Thompson is fantastic. I loved her "Sense and Sensibility", and this is a worthy descendent. There is a range of fairy tale motifs utilized, for this is most definitely a fairy tale. There is a loving family, there is witty writing and occasionally there is the kind of dark humor that "Lemony Snicket" was longing for. Though with all that, it's just backdrop for a well done and bizarre, but heart warming story. You will, at the beginning, realize how it will end, but you will be entertained and pleasantly surprised at how they get there.
Is It Good For Kids?
I don't know. There are no morals put forth that would be bad for kids to pick up, but depending on the maturity of your child, they may miss the point. The kids are very mischievous and naughty. This of course is said to be so, but some children may just see the fun and not the consequences (though, with the dark English style cinematography, the misbehaving looks rather "yucky" for lack of a better word). Then there is a scene where the kids are trying to break up the relationship between their father and a frightening woman. Father's constant attempts to shield the would-be fiancé from his children's pranks are interpreted by the lady as sexual advances (as he falls on top of her... excreta excreta.) The woman is most unattractive and, al though she is always dressed in a low-cut outfit, it simply increases her unattractiveness. (Spoiler) There is also talk of incest and cannibalism though one is a trick of the children and the other is a misunderstanding. Both are cleared up quickly but not before we have seen a shot of the children eating chicken with baby booties on the drumsticks.
You should check Screenit.com to see all that your child will see on the screen.
What About Spiritual Issues?
Not sure on this one either. (I apologize for my indecisiveness today.) On one level we have magic curing the children and it's from an undetermined source. (The children suspect she's a witch.)
On the other, it is a fairy tale. There is no magic that matches up with real witchcraft and, while the lessons are learned with the aid of magic, magic is not the goal. If we go further, there seems to be strong Christian symbolism here that would explain much of the story. There is an implication at the end (spoiler) that Nanny McPhee is not "magic" as the kids' supposed, but an angelic visitor.
All of her lessons are in agreement with Biblical teachings (kids should go to bed when told, not be over indulged, respect their father). But then the lessons themselves seem to have deeper meaning. In the first lesson the children find themselves literal "slaves to their sin" (John 8:34) and cannot control anything except their will to either repent or keep from repenting. Later, a child asks the Nanny if she would allow them to be mischievous to scare away a woman they think detrimental. She agrees to stay out of it, if they agree to accept the consequences. This is a mirror of God's character. (Psalm 81:11-12) If we choose not to follow him, he will allow us to sin and reap the consequences. (Galatians 6:7) That is exactly what happens here. Finally, the father is going to make a big mistake that ends in a huge mess. This mess is then "miraculously " washed whiter than snow. (Psalm 51:7). There is also some wonderful symbolism about how we view discipline. Hebrews 12:11.
What Is Your Recommendation?
This is a fun story and there might be more. I can't say definitively that they meant to align themselves with scripture or they just picked things that were inherently true, but there seems to be some neat earthly and spiritual lessons here.
It's a fun movie to watch, so if your kids will not get spooked by the chicken booties or undertaker chatting with his latest "client", then it would be a great thing to sit down and talk about John 8:34, Psalm 81, Galatians 6:7, Hebrews 12:11 and Psalm 51:7; then, see what you and your children get out of Nanny's five lessons.