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I’m a bit of a pushover for pretty much anything Emma Thompson does.  I find her witty and very bright, whether in front of the camera or behind it.  (My Anglophilia may have something to do with it as well.)  So it was with some disappointment that I found myself waiting ten years for her to write her next screenplay.  Was the warm glow of the Oscar for her screenplay for 1995’s delightful Sense and Sensibility enough to keep her from the word processor for a decade?  As the writer and star of Nanny McPhee, she creates a wonderfully naughty film about naughty children acting out, all based on three books written by Christianna Brand.

Credric Brown (Colin Firth) is a widower who earns a very modest living making up corpses at the funeral home owned and run by foppish partners Mr. Wheen (Derek Jacobi) and Mr. Jowls (Patrick Barlow).  It really isn’t enough to support his seven children: Simon (Thomas Sangster), Tora (Eliza Bennett), Lily (Jennifer Rae Daykin), Eric (Raphael Coleman), Sebastian (Sam Honywood), Christianna (Holly Gibbs), and Baby Agatha (Hebe and Zinnia Barnes).  So his generous but autocratic Aunt Adelaide (Angela Lansbury) supplements his income.

Alas, he’s forced to work so hard that he doesn’t have much time or energy to devote to his children; they are left in the hands of nannies.  Yes, I use the plural, for the children systematically terrorize each and every nanny that comes their way.  It isn’t clear quite yet that they are motivated by the need to eliminate any surrogate parent; they simply want to spend more time with their dad.  Initially, we only see a bunch of willful, out- of-control brats.  The resident cook, Mrs. Blatherwick (Imelda Staunton), and the sweet resident scullery maid, Evangeline (Kelly Macdonald), can’t help, so Cedric repeatedly replaces each victimized nanny until there are no more.

And as if a household gone mad wasn’t enough, Aunt Adelaide reacts to the turmoil by suddenly demanding that Credric take a wife within a month or lose her financial support.  He’s forced to consider the odious Mrs. Quickly (Celia Imrie), the potentially quintessential evil stepmother, for the sake of his children’s welfare.  After all, without his aunt’s help, he’d be placed in a paupers’ prison and his children scattered to foster homes or workhouses.

Supernatural help arrives in the form of Nanny McPhee (Emma Thompson), a government nanny.  Frightful in her appearance, unflappable, and possessing powers that are sure to have a positive influence on the children, she mysteriously appears at the door, intimidating lightning and thunder accompanying her arrival.  She will prove to be the catalyst for change, for this is a film of transformation.  The children will learn to behave, Cedric will become a better parent, Evangeline will grow into the person she aspires to become, and even Nanny McPhee will transform, a reflection of turmoil and peace. 

This is clearly a film primarily directed at the young and there are some sequences that may try an adult’s patience.  But there is sufficient wit and age crossover appeal that I found myself quite amused. 

The Video: How Does The Disc Look?

The film’s theatrical aspect ratio of 2.35:1 is presented in anamorphic video.  The transfer is slightly soft and marred by modest edge halos that don’t really intrude.  Small object detail remains quite reasonable, but fine textures are somewhat suppressed.  Color accuracy is quite good based on very natural skin tones.  And color in general is the most impressive aspect of the transfer.  The production design is absolutely rampant with bright, vivid, primary colors.  They are painted to the screen with no smearing or chroma noise.  Shadow detail is quite nice and I didn’t see any macroblocking or mosquito noise. 

The Audio: How Does The Disc Sound?

The Dolby Digital 5.1 track is very fine.  The surrounds are used generously to create a more supernatural aspect to Nanny McPhee, and directional sounds add to the fun.  Deep bass will require a decent subwoofer to fully appreciate.  Sound effects have a convincing dynamic range.  The orchestral score by Patrick Doyle is a nice blend of high drama, action adventure, and sentimentality, pleasantly conveyed with a dry recording that enhances the illusion of presence.  The dialog is distortion-free throughout.

The alternate languages are in French and Spanish, each presented in Dolby 5.1.  Optional subtitles are in French, Spanish, and English.

Supplements: What Goodies Are There?

The disc opens with preprogrammed trailers and promos (4:17) for Over the Hedge, Curious George, PollyWorld, and Leave it to Beaver.  You may skip them, but they are not accessible elsewhere.

The DVD contains a very generous collection of supplements, but be forewarned, they overflow with spoilers.  Save them for after the feature film.  Let’s start with the featurettes.

Casting the Children (11:40) is a self-explanatory featurette that describes finding and casting the young actors to play the Brown children.  Most interesting was the means director Kirk Jones used to have the children bond off-screen to become more of a family.  We’re also given an insight into the personality types that suited the roles.  Perhaps most impressive and fortuitous were the youngest members of the cast, twins Hebe and Zinnia Barnes, who seemingly gave a remarkably disciplined performances but were undoubtedly the products of shear good luck.

The Village Life (3:52) featurette reveals how the filmmakers found a small isolated location away from hints of modern life and constructed the Brown home and the film’s village.  We’re also given an insight into the soundstage construction and how the two were seamlessly blended.

The Nanny McPhee Makeover (5:39) featurette demonstrates how the filmmakers transformed the attractive Emma Thompson into the unpleasant visage of Nanny McPhee.  One must give great credit to Thompson for her utter lack of vanity, allowing herself to be malformed into the strikingly unattractive: monobrow, nose like a casaba melon, hairy facial moles, and an outrageous tooth. 

There are seven deleted scenes (13:00, aggregate), each introduced by director Kirk Jones.  He explains why each scene was cut from the theatrical release.  I cannot disagree with any of his choices.  Each would have detracted from the plot or the pace of the film.  Particularly inappropriate is the black and white, silent film version of Mrs. Quickly coming to tea.

The Gag Reel (2:46) is simply okay, not as amusing as many other similar such features on other DVDs.  With the somewhat sedate British reactions to the flubs, the gaffs simply don’t have much punch.

How Nanny McPhee Came to Be (7:42) is a pleasant look at how Emma Thompson adapted Christianna Brand's Nurse Matilda books.  In this featurette, Thompson describes the process and we learn about why certain changes were made and liberties were taken to accommodate the medium of film.  Thompson’s charm shines through (much more to come in her commentary), most apparent as she reads a passage from one of Brand's books.

And that leaves not one but two charming commentaries.

The first commentary is by director Kirk Jones and his young actors, sans Thomas Sangster and the babies.  The track is inadvertently funny; children will be children after all.  Loud munching too close to a microphone, announcements of having to go to the toilet, vocal impatience with the commentary process, and sometimes what sounds like Brown home bedlam prevail.  If this is what it was like to have these children on a shoot for months, kudos to the adult cast members and to the director in particular for inexhaustible patience.

The second commentary is by Emma Thompson and co-producer Lindsay Doran.  I was quite charmed by Thompson’s wit and candor.  I’m impressed by her quick mind and intelligence.  The women seem to get along famously, each offering interesting anecdotes from the shoot.  I enjoyed this commentary much more than the first.

The 99-minute film is organized into sixteen chapters.

Exclusive DVD-ROM Features: What happens when you pop the disc into your PC?

There are no DVD-ROM features on this DVD.