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

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

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

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

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

It's like some kind of dumb toy that doesn't do anything or go anywhere, but it is fun to watch as it spins mindlessly around and around.

| Original Score: 3/4 | Oct 23, 2004

They don't build movies like this anymore.

| Aug 30, 2004