You may grimace at some points, but kids might like it anyway.

| Mar 7, 2017

There's nothing wrong with reworking the score of Annie -- as this film does -- but too often, the movie seems a little embarrassed to be a musical at all, making it seem as if it's having a crisis of confidence.

| Sep 26, 2016

The song selection and its presentation seems out of his control.

| Original Score: 2.5/5 | Jan 9, 2015

Though the old numbers are here, they're staged in an off-hand manner that lacks the excitement of John Huston's original.

| Jan 9, 2015

A flattened, bowdlerised project that has passed through too many hands

| Original Score: 2/5 | Jan 3, 2015

Are you a little girl, aged between six and ten?... Have you learnt every song from Frozen and are you ready to torment your parents with a whole new repertoire?... congratulations, you are part of the ridiculously specific target audience for [Annie].

| Original Score: 2/5 | Jan 1, 2015

Even Sandy the dog looks like he's had enough.

| Original Score: 2/4 | Dec 29, 2014

The vigorous display of good feelings and comforting resolutions has an unusually effervescent sincerity, even if the rags-to-riches wish-fulfillment leaps over all the hard knocks.

| Dec 29, 2014

There's not much delight to be had in an orphan's bedazzlement by this corporate paradise - besides, is gaining material wealth all the story has to offer?

| Original Score: 2/5 | Dec 26, 2014

The blame falls squarely on Gluck, who appears to have never seen a musical film in his life, shoots dance numbers with staid limpidity and zero sense of rhythm, and edits them in a way so as all the performers are barely visible.

| Original Score: 1/5 | Dec 24, 2014

A teeter-totter between O.K. and Meh.

| Dec 23, 2014

Wallis here retains all the unaffected charm that she showcased in Beasts, skipping nimbly between comedy, pathos and show-stopping song and dance, lending credible heart and soul to a production that so often fails to find its feet.

| Original Score: 3/5 | Dec 21, 2014

Quvenzhané Wallis has a thousand-watt personality and is the main reason kids (and families) will find this Annie appealing.

| Original Score: 2.00 | Dec 19, 2014

Did I really just watch Foxx and Wallis do an entire musical number set inside a moving helicopter? I did, and I've never felt more embarrassed for two actors, mostly because Foxx seems embarrassed for himself.

| Dec 19, 2014

Considering this musical has its roots in Depression-era American, Gluck's contemporary take on the material is eerily lacking in observations about the rich/poor divide in this country.

| Original Score: C+ | Dec 19, 2014

We get the Annie we deserve. This one is sweet, funny and soulless. Kids will love it.

| Original Score: 3/5 | Dec 19, 2014

In all the ways that matter it's a missed opportunity to take a flawed musical and transform it into a powerful new myth with a particular African-American slant.

| Dec 19, 2014

Despite any reservations about the music, it is a charming, lovely little movie.

| Dec 19, 2014

"Annie" is very, very light on its feet, very frothy, and always unselfconsciously, at times provocatively kind-hearted, determined to melt grumpy hearts like marshmallows.

| Original Score: 3/4 | Dec 19, 2014

Engaging characters, infectious melodies, suspense, drama and dance extravaganzas appeal to children of all eras. If only the powers that be behind the new Annie movie had kept this basic truth in mind.

| Original Score: 1/4 | Dec 19, 2014