Annie 2014

Mary Houlihan, Chicago Sun-Times: Even Sandy the dog looks like he's had enough. Read more

Wesley Morris, Grantland: 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. Read more

Lou Lumenick, New York Post: Leapin' lizards! The evergreen Broadway musical "Annie'' strays far from its Depression-era roots with truly dismaying results in this crass, charmless, tineared and lead-footed update. Read more

Moira MacDonald, Seattle Times: Musical purists should stay away, but little girls should have fun here, and the movie's full of goofball touches that help pass the time for the grown-ups bringing them. Read more

David Edelstein, New York Magazine/Vulture: 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. Read more

Richard Corliss, TIME Magazine: A teeter-totter between O.K. and Meh. Read more

Ronnie Scheib, Variety: While there are several possible good reasons to remake the Depression-set musical "Annie" in 2014, none of them seem to have informed Will Gluck's overblown yet undernourished treatment. Read more

Katie Rife, AV Club: Any scene without Wallis and her gang of remarkably symmetrical, well-groomed orphans feels like a chore-"Let's just get through this," the movie seems to be saying, "Then we'll show you that cute little girl and her puppy again." Read more

Kerry Lengel, Arizona Republic: The feel-good story and sing-along production numbers are likely to please the movie's target audience of tween girls, but there's not a whole lot in "Annie" to win their parents over. Read more

Ty Burr, Boston Globe: By the end, the movie resembles just another formulaic, family-friendly piece of product, one the kids will enjoy and you'll endure as it goes in the DVD player for the 40th time. Read more

Ben Sachs, Chicago Reader: There's a surprising amount of bite: the filmmakers openly acknowledge the similarities between the Great Depression and the present, and the populist message, however overstated, always registers as sincere. Read more

Michael Phillips, Chicago Tribune: The overall vibe of this folly is curdled and utterly blase; it's a 118-minute foregone conclusion, finesse-free and perilously low on the simple performance pleasures we look for in any musical, of any period. Read more

Peter Rainer, Christian Science Monitor: 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. Read more

Nancy Churnin, Dallas Morning News: Most of the cast can't sing or dance, and Gluck, who co-wrote the screenplay, has no clue why this story has endured. Read more

Maricar Estrella, Fort Worth Star-Telegram/DFW.com: Phenom Quvenzhane Wallis proves her Oscar nomination for Beasts of the Southern Wild was no fluke. As a modern-day Annie, Wallis shines with her sweet portrayal. However, her performance alone can't save the film from being a dim adaptation. Read more

Jason Clark, Entertainment Weekly: Aside from an unintentional homage to Zoolander that is so tone-deaf it'll make you guffaw, Annie goes out of its way to make viewing it a hard-knock life...for us. Read more

David Rooney, Hollywood Reporter: The sun'll come out tomorrow, by which time this toxic mess should be forgotten. Read more

Betsy Sharkey, Los Angeles Times: Hard to believe the sun will come out tomorrow for the new "Annie." Read more

Amy Nicholson, L.A. Weekly: 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." Read more

Christine Dolen, Miami Herald: The new Annie is jam-packed with Glee-style choreography and greed-is-good luxury. Like its predecessors, it's a fantasy. But unlike them, it's not so much heartwarming as warmed-over. Read more

Rafer Guzman, Newsday: Wallis is adorable, but there's little magic in the new music or the barely-there choreography. A missed opportunity. Read more

Richard Brody, New Yorker: 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. Read more

Stephen Whitty, Newark Star-Ledger: Think you've got a hard-knock life? Try sitting through the new "Annie." Read more

Linda Holmes, NPR: Despite any reservations about the music, it is a charming, lovely little movie. Read more

Elizabeth Weitzman, New York Daily News: For all the talent involved, the overall effect is surprisingly flat. Foxx appears disconnected, Byrne is wasted and a painfully hammy Diaz seems to be in another movie altogether. Read more

A.O. Scott, New York Times: The cast would have been better served by a middle school production overseen by a creatively frustrated, inappropriately ambitious drama teacher than by this hacky, borderline-incompetent production ... Read more

Steven Rea, Philadelphia Inquirer: Quvenzhane Wallis, the Oscar-nominated star of the trippy bayou indie Beasts of the Southern Wild, simply has to skip into a room - and into the frame - to light things up. Read more

James Berardinelli, ReelViews: Most remakes are unnecessary but Annie is a bigger offender than many. Read more

Peter Travers, Rolling Stone: It falls ignominiously on its fat one. The Sony hackers, the so-called Guardians of Peace, have leaked the new Annie online so everyone can have free access. It's their cruelest trick to date. Read more

Michael Ordona, San Francisco Chronicle: "Annie" is a shiny little pebble with nothing close to a surprise in it, set in a New York that would cause Martin Scorsese to burst into flame if he walked into it. And young kids just might like it. Read more

Lindsey Bahr, Associated Press: This "Annie" was supposed to be for a new generation. In the harsh light of 2014, it's never looked so dated. Read more

Neal Justin, Minneapolis Star Tribune: There's still a good film to be made of "Annie," but it'll take Broadway veterans, not box-office stars, to pull it off. Read more

Calvin Wilson, St. Louis Post-Dispatch: "Annie" is not a great movie musical - but it's a fun time at the movies. Read more

Courtney Shea, Globe and Mail: 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. Read more

Linda Barnard, Toronto Star: A movie that coasts on a disturbing greed-is-good vibe. And one that looks strangely cheap doing it. Read more

Inkoo Kang, TheWrap: "[A] disenchantment, even misanthropy, seeps through Will Gluck's reinterpretation of the Broadway classic." Read more

David Ehrlich, Time Out: Annie deserves credit for illustrating that old racial prejudices don't have to be preserved by new entertainments, but this remixed rendition doesn't speak to the kids of today so much as it does to their parents' wallets. Read more

Jim Slotek, Toronto Sun: The song selection and its presentation seems out of his control. Read more

Claudia Puig, USA Today: Banal, shallow and markedly cynical. Read more

Stephanie Merry, Washington Post: Ultimately, "Annie" is so fixated on being current that it will never be more than a passing fancy. Read more

Joe Morgenstern, Wall Street Journal: Where to begin in describing the awfulness of "Annie"? Read more