Annie Review Roundup: Why Critics Say Don't Spend Your Bottom Dollar on This Musical Remake

Jamie Foxx, Quvenzhané Wallis, Cameron Diaz, Bobby Cannavale and Rose Byrne's comedy is slammed as materialistic and cheesy

By Rebecca Macatee Dec 18, 2014 4:39 PMTags
Annie, Cameron Diaz, Jamie Foxx, Quvenzhane Wallis, Rose ByrneColumbia Pictures

The sun'll come out tomorrow, but based on these reviews, the audience might not.

An overwhelming majority of critics say the upcoming Annie remake, starring Jamie Foxx, Quvenzhané Wallis, Cameron Diaz, Bobby Cannavale and Rose Byrne, isn't worth your bottom dollar at the theater.

The Guardian's Peter Bradshaw describes the feel-good family musical as "pink, sparkly radioactive waste." Taking a very Miss Hannigan approach to his review, he asks, "Did we really need another go-around for Annie, that indomitable little curly-haired moppet, who defiantly sings about how she'll 'love ya tomorrow', when life is kicking her in the teeth? This movie is slathered in slush, immersed in yuckiness and positively laminated in ickiness."

The Hollywood Reporter's David Rooney wasn't a fan of the PG-rated film either. "If there's a more awkward musical number ever committed to film, I can't recall it right now," he writes. "Oh wait, there is one later with the big finale, "I Don't Need Anything But You," in which Wallis, Foxx and Byrne get to— gulp—dance, while everyone else stands and sways, wearing frozen smiles."

Rooney's "bottom line" for Annie is a riff on its iconic tagline: "The sun'll come out tomorrow, by which point this toxic mess should be forgotten."

Other critics lamented some of the movie's more materialistic, money-solves-everything themes. Amy Nicholson of L.A. Weekly writes, "This is an Annie for adults, only now the spin is less 'Remember the social-welfare lessons of the Great Depression?' and more ''Hey, rich people are nice, too.'"

There were the few and far between, though, who appreciated Annie for what it is: A movie for kids, parents and families to watch and enjoy—not necessarily one for critics to analyze and pick apart. Mike Scott of the New Orleans Times-Picayune describes Annie as "mildly entertaining and mostly painless family film," and while he admits there are times when "sentimentality gives way to schmaltz," he praises the movie's "nice sense of humor" as well as 10-year-old Wallis' shining performance.

Scott Mendelson held on to some of that Annie optimism in his Forbes review, writing, "My daughter liked it just fine, and I'd imagine she's more the target audience than I am."

It's a hard-knock life out there for a remake! Annie hits theaters Friday.