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Sing it, Annie!
Theyâll take Manhattan: Cameron Diaz (left) and Quvenzhané Wallis share the screen in Annie
Theyâll take Manhattan:: Cameron Diaz (left) and Quvenzhané Wallis share the screen in Annie. Courtesy of Village Roadshow Pictures) (left) and Quvenzhané Wallis share the screen in Annie. Courtesy of Village Roadshow Pictures)
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span class="inline inline-center">They'll take Manhattan: Cameron Diaz (left) and Quvenzhané Wallis share the screen in Annie. (Courtesy of Village Roadshow Pictures)
When it comes to Annie, all those ear-catching sing-along songs never fail.
Featuring iconic tracks from 'It's A Hard Knock Life' to 'Tomorrow', the 2014 version of Annie, a comedy-drama musical/film adapted from the 1977 Broadway musical of the same title, gives the nostalgic classic a fun contemporary spin ' reminiscent of the musical arrangements and settings of the Glee series.
The film begins in New York with a scene of a bunch of kids in a classroom in Harlem doing presentations on former presidents.
Ten-year-old Annie Bennet, played wittily by Quvenzhané Wallis, an Academy Award nominee for her part in Beasts of the Southern Wild, does her report on Franklin D. Roosevelt in a unique way, allowing her classmates to join her by making noises.
Annie is a tenacious, self-assured and persistently positive child who lives in a foster home with four foster sisters ' Isabella (Eden Duncan-Smith), Tessie (Zoe Margaret Colletti), Mia (Nicolette Pierini) and Pepper (Amanda Troya).
They are looked after by grumpy Miss Hannigan (Cameron Diaz), who was a performer and feels miserable for running the foster home.
Optimistic Annie likes to regularly visit Domani ' a restaurant where she believes that her parents might show up someday to reclaim her.
Annie and the other four girls believe that her parents are really out there ' they just need to wait a little longer before eventually meeting them.
One early Saturday morning, Miss Hannigan wakes up the girls loudly, ordering them to clean out the house, as an inspector from social services is scheduled for a visit. The girls do the chores while singing 'It's a Hard Knock Life' ' a catchy tune performed with pop choreography.
Meanwhile, Will Stacks (Jamie Foxx), a cell phone mogul and owner of Stacks Mobile, is running for mayor.
Will's strict businessman character doesn't do much for him to gain votes. At one social event held to increase his chances at the ballot box, Will messes things up by spitting a spoonful of mashed potatoes at a homeless man, something that immediately goes viral.
One day, Will, by chance, helps Annie from a car accident. The unprecedented heroic act, somehow, gets caught on camera and goes viral, too.
Will's adviser, Guy (Bobby Cannavale), sees the act as a golden opportunity to make him look good for the public.
When Will eventually meets Annie for the campaign, he comes clean. Will admits that the meeting is intended as a publicity stunt. Annie jokes that Will could even be a president of the US if she moves in.
With Guy's advice, the joke becomes the real deal, which brings more adventures to Annie.
Producer, director and screenplay writer Will Gluck said that he was excited to work on a film that captures the magic of family.
'Annie has never gone out of style,' Gluck said in a statement.
