Dreadful. A clockwork lemon that’s bloated, charmless, and artificial.

| Original Score: 1/4 | Nov 23, 2024

You can always feel the heavy exertion behind the spectacle, which I suppose is somehow fitting for a hard knock life.

| Aug 25, 2024

A kid with Annie's moxie deserves more. Or perhaps less. What she deserves is an atmosphere of innocence, warmth and inventiveness, to let the film generate the joy that must have enveloped theater audiences over the past five years.

| Apr 15, 2022

Aileen Quinn is a delightful Annie, with good feet, an infectious smile, and a perfectly pitched voice. It's not her fault she is used mainly as a performing prop, as is the spectacularly graceful Ann Reinking, playing Warbucks' secretary.

| Original Score: 4/10 | Apr 15, 2022

Albert Finney makes a surprisingly good Warbucks. Bellowing orders like a true self-made tycoon, he exhibits an intelligent awareness of the demands of his role, never overdoing his effects.

| Apr 15, 2022

Producer Ray Stark and director John Huston have relied more on the rigid style of the comic strip than on the high-steppin' pizazz' of the Broadway show. They've transformed a big-hearted hit that won seven Tonys into a small-minded musical.

| Apr 15, 2022

Annie is big! Annie is loud! Annie is wholesome fun for the whole family! And Annie is actually a bit of a bore.

| Original Score: 2/4 | Apr 15, 2022

On stage, Annie had ebullience every step of the way. It's more like flatulence in this overblown, mechanical, big-bucks production with out any grace or charm in its musical numbers.

| Original Score: 2/4 | Nov 11, 2021

Sure, once or twice, when the kid had her mouth shut and wasn't making "Tomorrow" sound like a screeching threat, I even enjoyed her. It's not Aileen Quinn's fault that the music is so lousy and the sentiments are so corrupt.

| Nov 10, 2021

The triumph of casting and performance turns out to be Finney himself as Daddy Warbucks. He treads a thin line between bluff and bathos, and he is enchanting.

| Feb 27, 2020

We can all appreciate the production efforts: the movie is brilliant, certain musical numbers are a thing of beauty, and the cast is effective. [Full Review in Spanish]

| Aug 26, 2019

Now for some good news: Aileen Quinn makes a perfect Annie, recalling Shirley Temple with her room-lighting smile and perky manner.

| Oct 22, 2018

What makes "Annie" so winning is that, while it could have easily been just another cutesy-poo Hollywood musical, it happens to be as gritty, genial and boisterous as little Annie herself.

| Original Score: 4/4 | May 20, 2016

John Huston is the wrong director, lacking appreciation for the musical genre

| Original Score: C+ | Apr 16, 2011

Tale of cute orphan is great for the whole family.

| Original Score: 5/5 | Jan 2, 2011

The movie offers an insulting 'let them eat cake' gesture toward the 1982 audience, but the pacing is so ragged and the characters so lifeless that few will be able to stay awake long enough to feel offended.

| Apr 16, 2007

This charming musical based on the comic strip character Little Orphan Annie features many memorable songs and pleasant dance numbers.

| Original Score: 2.5/4 | Apr 16, 2007

Many people said John Huston was an odd choice to direct Annie and he proves them right.

| Apr 16, 2007

The songs never take off into anything very much, the whole atmosphere (apart from the climax) is distinctly stagebound, and Huston merely reveals why he had never before in his long career been hired to make a musical.

| Jun 24, 2006

Full Review | Original Score: 3/5 | Jan 14, 2005