Frustrating film. I wanted to support Wallis especially after the racist backlash. Fox is a Grammy winner and I love Rose Byrne from Bridesmaids.

The main problem w/ this film is that it thinks it’s too cool to be a musical. Which is a problem when you choose to do a musical. Diaz even says at one point, “Are you singing to me?” Well. Yes, dear. It’s a musical.

They never fully embraced that in a musical people break out into song and dance to express themselves because normal dialogue has become insufficient. The song and dance should never be arbitrary.

The director should embrace the singing (little Q is not a musical performer) the dancing (real choreography instead of extras swaying in the background) and, yeah, the corniness of it all. Otherwise, it’s not going to work.

A better Annie is the TV movie w/ Audra McDonald (the Tony Winner who had to suffer P. Diddy trying learn how to act in Raisin in the Sun) in the Rose Byrne part and Victor Garber (who we will soon see as the second half of Firestorm in The Flash) as Daddy Warbucks.

An earlier Annie movie w/ Carol Burnett as Mrs. Hannigan had mixed reviews but the people could sing. Hell, I’ll even take SNL’s Leslie Jones in the Black Annie skit. At least it was entertaining.

I want little black girls to have role models too but not this one. There are others to choose from.

And besides, SPOILER ALERT……BLACK ANNIE CAN’T READ!!!!

They finally get a black Annie and we have to sit through this very special episode of Good Times about how black Annie can’t read?!? WTF?!? THAT’S our update?????

No thanks.

Long winded comments.

But Annie was one of the first musicals I saw and I was looking forward to this movie BRINGING IT!

It didn’t.