''Nanny McPhee and the Big Bang'' (released in the United States and Canada as ''Nanny McPhee Returns'') is a 2010
period
Period may refer to:
Common uses
* Era, a length or span of time
* Full stop (or period), a punctuation mark
Arts, entertainment, and media
* Period (music), a concept in musical composition
* Periodic sentence (or rhetorical period), a concept ...
fantasy comedy
Fantasy comedy or comic fantasy is a subgenre of fantasy that is primarily humorous in intent and tone. Typically set in imaginary worlds, fantasy comedy often involves puns on and parodies of other works of fantasy.
Literature
The subgenre rose ...
film directed by
Susanna White
Susanna White (born 1960) is a British television and film director.
Early life
White was born in England in 1960. She first became interested in films at 8 years old, when she visited the set of the BBC children's TV show Crackerjack, and aske ...
, produced by
Tim Bevan
Timothy John Bevan, (born 20 December 1957) is a New Zealand-British film producer, the co-chairman (with Eric Fellner) of the production company Working Title Films.
Bevan and Fellner are the most successful British producers of their era ...
,
Eric Fellner
Eric Fellner, (born 10 October 1959) is a British film producer. He is the co-chairman (along with Tim Bevan) of the production company Working Title Films.
Early life and education
Fellner was born to a Jewish family in England. From 1972 t ...
and
Lindsay Doran
Lindsay Doran (c. 1949) is an American film producer and studio executive who has worked on such films as '' This Is Spinal Tap'', ''Ferris Bueller's Day Off'', ''Sense and Sensibility'', '' Stranger Than Fiction'', and ''Nanny McPhee''.
Early ...
with music by
James Newton Howard
James Newton Howard (born June 9, 1951) is an American film composer, music producer and keyboardist. He has scored over 100 films and is the recipient of a Grammy Award, an Emmy Award, and nine nominations for Academy Awards. His film scores ...
and co-produced by
StudioCanal
StudioCanal S.A.S. (formerly known as Le Studio Canal+, Canal Plus, Canal+ Distribution, Canal+ D.A., Canal+ Production, and Canal+ Image and also known as StudioCanal International) is a French film production and distribution company that owns ...
,
Relativity Media
Relativity Media is an American media company founded in 2004 by Lynwood Spinks and Ryan Kavanaugh. The company brokered film finance deals and later branched into film production and other entertainment ventures. The company was commercially s ...
,
Working Title Films
Working Title Films is a British film studio that produces motion pictures and television programs and is a subsidiary of Universal Pictures, a division of NBCUniversal, which is itself a division of Comcast. The company was founded by Tim Bev ...
and Three Strange Angels. It is a sequel to the 2005 film ''
Nanny McPhee
''Nanny McPhee'' is a 2005 comedy drama fantasy film based on the Nurse Matilda character by Christianna Brand. It was directed by Kirk Jones, coproduced by StudioCanal, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures, Working Title Films, Three Strange Angel ...
''. It was adapted by
Emma Thompson
Dame Emma Thompson (born 15 April 1959) is a British actress. Regarded as one of the best actresses of her generation, she has received numerous accolades throughout her four-decade-long career, including two Academy Awards, two British A ...
from
Christianna Brand
Mary Christianna Lewis (née Milne; 17 December 1907 – 11 March 1988), known professionally as Christianna Brand, was a British crime writer and children's author born in British Malaya.
Biography
Christianna Brand was born Mary Chris ...
's ''
Nurse Matilda'' books.
[ Thompson reprises her role as Nanny McPhee, and the film also stars ]Maggie Gyllenhaal
Margalit Ruth "Maggie" Gyllenhaal (; born November 16, 1977) is an American actress and filmmaker. Part of the Gyllenhaal family, she is the daughter of filmmakers Stephen Gyllenhaal and Naomi Foner Gyllenhaal, Naomi Achs, and the older sister o ...
, Ralph Fiennes
Ralph Nathaniel Twisleton-Wykeham-Fiennes ( ; born 22 December 1962) is an English actor, film producer, and director. A Shakespeare interpreter, he excelled onstage at the Royal National Theatre before having further success at the Royal Shak ...
, Rhys Ifans
Rhys Ifans (; born Rhys Owain Evans; 22 July 1967) is a Welsh actor and musician. He was the frontman of Welsh rock music bands the Peth and Super Furry Animals. As an actor, he is best known for his roles in ''Notting Hill'' (1999), ''Kevin & ...
, Ewan McGregor
Ewan Gordon McGregor ( ; born 31 March 1971) is a Scottish actor. His accolades include a Golden Globe Award, a Primetime Emmy Award, and the BAFTA Britannia Humanitarian Award. In 2013, he was appointed Officer of the Order of the British ...
, Asa Butterfield
Asa Bopp Farr Butterfield (; born Asa Maxwell Thornton Farr Butterfield on 1 April 1997) is an English actor. He has received nominations for three British Independent Film Awards, two Critics' Choice Awards, two Saturn Awards, and three Young ...
and Maggie Smith
Dame Margaret Natalie Smith (born 28 December 1934) is an English actress. With an extensive career on screen and stage beginning in the mid-1950s, Smith has appeared in more than sixty films and seventy plays. She is one of the few performer ...
. The film was theatrically released on 20 August 2010 by Universal Pictures
Universal Pictures (legally Universal City Studios LLC, also known as Universal Studios, or simply Universal; common metonym: Uni, and formerly named Universal Film Manufacturing Company and Universal-International Pictures Inc.) is an Ameri ...
.
The film received positive reviews from critics and it earned $93.2 million on a $35 million budget. It also received a Young Artist Award nomination for Best Performance in a Feature Film. The film was released on DVD and Blu-ray
The Blu-ray Disc (BD), often known simply as Blu-ray, is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 2005 and released on June 20, 2006 worldwide. It is designed to supersede the DVD format, and capable of sto ...
in the UK on 19 June 2010.
Plot
Isabel Green is driven to her wit's end by her hectic life while her husband Rory fights in World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
. Between trying to keep the family farm up and running and her job in the village shop, run by the slightly mad Mrs. Docherty, she also has three boisterous children to look after, Norman, Megsie and Vincent. When her children's two wealthy, but pompous and snobby city cousins, Cyril and Celia, are evacuated to live with them in the countryside, they start fighting with them, only adding to Isabel's problems.
When the magical Nanny McPhee arrives to help, the children at first do not listen and carry on fighting, which she soon puts a stop to with her magic. Meanwhile, Isabel's brother-in-law Phil has gambled away his half of the farm, and is being chased by two hired female assassins working for casino owner Mrs. Biggles. He desperately attempts to make Isabel sell her half of the farm, using mean and spiteful schemes to leave her no choice; one of the schemes, setting loose a litter of piglets to be sold to a neighbouring farmer, is discovered by the children, leading them to bond as they work together to fix it. Isabel takes everyone on a picnic as a show of thanks, during which Mrs. Docherty's ARP Warden
Air Raid Precautions (ARP) refers to a number of organisations and guidelines in the United Kingdom dedicated to the protection of civilians from the danger of air raids. Government consideration for air raid precautions increased in the 1920s an ...
husband warns them about bombs and relates how he imagines a pilot might accidentally release one, and Phil subsequently delivers a telegram saying Rory was killed in action. Everyone believes the news except Norman, who is sure his father is alive because he "can feel it in isbones". He tells this to Cyril, who at first thinks he is just upset, but then agrees that Norman might be right; the two convince Nanny McPhee to take them to the War Office
The War Office was a department of the British Government responsible for the administration of the British Army between 1857 and 1964, when its functions were transferred to the new Ministry of Defence (MoD). This article contains text from ...
in London, where Cyril and Celia's father Lord Gray holds an important position, believing he will know the truth.
At first Lord Gray sneers at Norman's disbelief at his father's death, but after Cyril reveals that he knows he is divorcing their mother and blasts him for his neglect as a parent, Lord Gray investigates what has happened. While he is gone, Norman asks Cyril where he will live following the divorce; upon learning he rarely sees either of his parents, he says that he and Celia are welcome to live permanently with the Greens. Lord Gray returns and tells Norman that his father is merely missing in action
Missing in action (MIA) is a casualty classification assigned to combatants, military chaplains, combat medics, and prisoners of war who are reported missing during wartime or ceasefire. They may have been killed, wounded, captured, ex ...
, and that there is no record of a telegram being sent to his mother. After the boys leave, Norman deduces that Phil forged the telegram.
While the older boys are at the War Office, Megsie, Celia and Vincent try to stop Isabel from signing Phil's papers and selling the farm. Just as she is about to finally do so, a German pilot accidentally drops a huge bomb on the Greens' barley field; it does not explode, but the fallout is strong enough to cover Phil's papers with ink. When Nanny McPhee, Norman and Cyril return, Phil admits to Norman's accusation of forgery and is handcuffed to the stove by Isabel. The children go out to watch Mr. Docherty defuse the bomb, but when he faints, Megsie takes over, succeeding with the help of the other children and Nanny McPhee's jackdaw friend Mr. Edelweiss. Nanny McPhee helps to harvest the barley with a little magic, saving Phil from Mrs. Biggles' hitwomen in the process. While everyone celebrates, Mrs. Docherty is revealed to be baby Agatha from the first film and to remember Nanny McPhee, who has been staying with her. As Nanny McPhee walks away from the now-happy Isabel and the children, they chase after her, only to see Rory, with an injured arm, making his way back to them. He runs to his family and they embrace.
In a mid-credits scene, Ellie, an elephant conjured by Nanny McPhee to share Vincent's bed, is seen enjoying the magically operated Scratch-o-matic invented for the piglets.
Cast
* Emma Thompson
Dame Emma Thompson (born 15 April 1959) is a British actress. Regarded as one of the best actresses of her generation, she has received numerous accolades throughout her four-decade-long career, including two Academy Awards, two British A ...
as Nanny McPhee, the nanny who changes the lives of the Green and Gray children.
* Maggie Gyllenhaal
Margalit Ruth "Maggie" Gyllenhaal (; born November 16, 1977) is an American actress and filmmaker. Part of the Gyllenhaal family, she is the daughter of filmmakers Stephen Gyllenhaal and Naomi Foner Gyllenhaal, Naomi Achs, and the older sister o ...
as Isabel Green (née Carrington), the frazzled mother of Norman, Megsie and Vincent.
* Rhys Ifans
Rhys Ifans (; born Rhys Owain Evans; 22 July 1967) is a Welsh actor and musician. He was the frontman of Welsh rock music bands the Peth and Super Furry Animals. As an actor, he is best known for his roles in ''Notting Hill'' (1999), ''Kevin & ...
as Phil Green, Norman, Megsie and Vincent's uncle, Rory's brother and Isabel's brother-in-law, who tries to sell the farm because he gambled it away at a casino.
* Asa Butterfield
Asa Bopp Farr Butterfield (; born Asa Maxwell Thornton Farr Butterfield on 1 April 1997) is an English actor. He has received nominations for three British Independent Film Awards, two Critics' Choice Awards, two Saturn Awards, and three Young ...
as Norman Green, the eldest of the Green children.
* Lil Woods
Lillian Grace Woods (born 9 April 1998) is a British actress who appeared in the film ''Nanny McPhee and the Big Bang'' as Megsie Green.
Woods' other film credits include '' Blessed'' (2008), '' Disco'' (2010) and ''Baby'' (2014). She attende ...
as Megan “Megsie” Green, the middle and only girl of the Green children.
* Oscar Steer as Vincent Green, the youngest of the Green children.
* Eros Vlahos
Eros Vlahos (born 13 January 1995) is an English actor and comedian. He is known for his roles as Cyril Gray in ''Nanny McPhee and the Big Bang'', Jake Farley in '' Summer in Transylvania'', and Lommy Greenhands in '' Game of Thrones''. He also ...
as Cyril Gray, the spoiled cousin of Norman, Megsie and Vincent. He becomes kinder throughout the film and makes friends with Norman.
* Rosie Taylor-Ritson as Celia Gray, the other spoiled cousin of Norman, Megsie and Vincent. She also becomes kinder throughout the film and makes friends with Megsie.
* Maggie Smith
Dame Margaret Natalie Smith (born 28 December 1934) is an English actress. With an extensive career on screen and stage beginning in the mid-1950s, Smith has appeared in more than sixty films and seventy plays. She is one of the few performer ...
as Agatha Rose Docherty (née Brown), the owner of the shop at which Mrs. Green works. She's baby Aggie from the first film grown up.
* Ewan McGregor
Ewan Gordon McGregor ( ; born 31 March 1971) is a Scottish actor. His accolades include a Golden Globe Award, a Primetime Emmy Award, and the BAFTA Britannia Humanitarian Award. In 2013, he was appointed Officer of the Order of the British ...
as Rory Green, Isabel's husband, Phil's brother and the father of the Greens, away fighting in World War II.
* Ralph Fiennes
Ralph Nathaniel Twisleton-Wykeham-Fiennes ( ; born 22 December 1962) is an English actor, film producer, and director. A Shakespeare interpreter, he excelled onstage at the Royal National Theatre before having further success at the Royal Shak ...
as Lord Gray, Cyril and Celia's father, a General very high up in the War Office.
* Sam Kelly
Roger Michael Kelly (19 December 1943 – 14 June 2014), known by the stage name Sam Kelly, was an English actor who appeared in film, television, radio and theatre. He is best known for his roles as Captain Hans Geering in '' 'Allo 'Allo ...
as Mr. Algernon Docherty, Mrs. Docherty's husband, who's an ARP (Air Raid Precautions
Air Raid Precautions (ARP) refers to a number of organisations and guidelines in the United Kingdom dedicated to the protection of civilians from the danger of air raids. Government consideration for air raid precautions increased in the 1920s an ...
) Warden.
* Sinead Matthews
Sinead Matthews (born ) is an English actress whose credits include film, television and stage. Her notable TV roles include Marcia Williams in ''The Crown''.
She was born in Coventry, England, and attended Cardinal Wiseman Catholic School i ...
as Miss Topsey, a henchwoman of Mrs. Biggles, the woman who owns the casino at which Phil gambled the farm away.
* Katy Brand
Katherine Frances Brand (born 1979), known as Katy Brand, is an English actress, comedian and writer, known for her ITV2 series ''Katy Brand's Big Ass Show'' and for Comedy Lab ''Slap'' on Channel 4.
Early life and education
Brand was born in ...
as Miss Turvey, the colleague of Miss Topsey.
* Bill Bailey as Farmer MacReadie, the farmer who buys the piglets from the Greens.
* Nonso Anozie
Nonso Anozie (; born 17 November 1978) is an English actor. He is best known for his roles as Tank in ''RocknRolla'', Sergeant Dap in ''Ender's Game'', Abraham Kenyatta in ''Zoo'', Captain of the Guards in ''Cinderella'', Xaro Xhoan Daxos in th ...
as Sergeant Ralph Jeffreys - the guard at the War Office
The War Office was a department of the British Government responsible for the administration of the British Army between 1857 and 1964, when its functions were transferred to the new Ministry of Defence (MoD). This article contains text from ...
, and a former charge of Nanny McPhee.
* Daniel Mays
Daniel Mays (born 31 March 1978) is an English actor.
Early life
Born in Epping, Essex, the third of four boys, Mays was brought up in Buckhurst Hill, Essex, by his electrician father and bank cashier mother. He attended the Italia Conti Acad ...
as Blenkinsop - Cyril and Celia's chauffeur.
* Ed Stoppard
Edmund Stoppard (born 16 September 1974) is an English actor. He is the son of playwright Tom Stoppard and doctor Miriam, Lady Hogg.
Life
Stoppard was born on 16 September 1974 in London, England, the son of playwright Tom Stoppard and Miriam ...
as Lieutenant Addis, a coworker of Lord Gray.
* Toby Sedgwick
Toby Sedgwick (born 16 August 1958) is a British movement director, actor and theatre choreographer. He achieved critical acclaim for his expressive " horse choreography" for life-size puppets used in ''War Horse'' (2007), which played at West ...
as an enemy plane pilot.
Production
Filming locations
The village in the film is Hambleden
Hambleden is a small village and civil parish in south-west Buckinghamshire, England. The village is around west of Marlow, and around north-east of Henley-on-Thames in Oxfordshire.
The civil parish also includes the villages of Fingest and ...
in Buckinghamshire, the farm set and scenes were filmed in Hascombe
Hascombe is a village in Surrey, England. It contains a large cluster of cottages and country estates, St Peter's church, the village green, a fountain, pond, a central public house and is surrounded by steep wooded hillsides.
History
Above the ...
, near Godalming
Godalming is a market town and civil parish in southwest Surrey, England, around southwest of central London. It is in the Borough of Waverley, at the confluence of the Rivers Wey and Ock. The civil parish covers and includes the settleme ...
in Surrey and the War Office scenes, both interior and exterior, were filmed at the University of London, and the motorbike scenes on various London roads.
Dunsfold Aerodrome, the location of Top Gear, name ''Nanny McPhee and the Big Bang'' as being filmed there, with more filming taking place at Shepperton Studios.
Release
Theatrical
''Nanny McPhee and the Big Bang'' was theatrically released on 20 August 2010 by Universal Pictures
Universal Pictures (legally Universal City Studios LLC, also known as Universal Studios, or simply Universal; common metonym: Uni, and formerly named Universal Film Manufacturing Company and Universal-International Pictures Inc.) is an Ameri ...
(2 April 2010 in the UK).
Home media
The film was released on DVD and Blu-ray
The Blu-ray Disc (BD), often known simply as Blu-ray, is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 2005 and released on June 20, 2006 worldwide. It is designed to supersede the DVD format, and capable of sto ...
in the UK on 19 June 2010. ''Nanny McPhee Returns'', as the film was renamed for the North American market, was released on DVD and Blu-ray on 14 December 2010.
Reception
Critical response
Critical response for the film was positive. Review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...
gave the film a rating of 75% based on 121 reviews. The site's critic consensus reads: "Emma Thompson's second labor of love with the Nanny McPhee character actually improves on the first, delivering charming family fare with an excellent cast." Metacritic
Metacritic is a website that review aggregator, aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted arithmetic mean, weighted average). M ...
calculated an average score of 52 out of 100 based on 25 reviews, indicating "mixed or average reviews". Audiences polled by CinemaScore
CinemaScore is a market research firm based in Las Vegas. It surveys film audiences to rate their viewing experiences with letter grades, reports the results, and forecasts box office receipts based on the data.
Background
Ed Mintz founded Ci ...
gave the film an average grade of "A-" on an A+ to F scale. ''The Independent
''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...
'' also gave a favourable review, with praise given to the actors and Thompson's script."
Box office
In the UK, the film opened at number one, with £2,586,760, outperforming new release '' The Blind Side'', grossing a total of £16,211,057. In the United States and Canada, it debuted in seventh position with a $8.4 million. Gross exceeded $27 million.
Awards
Cancelled sequel
A third film, to be set in 21st-century England, was planned, but the sequel did not meet studio expectations and plans for any future films were cancelled.
References
External links
*
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nanny Mcphee And The Big Bang
2010 directorial debut films
2010 films
2010s children's fantasy films
2010 fantasy films
American fantasy comedy films
American sequel films
British fantasy comedy films
British sequel films
Fiction about child care occupations
2010s English-language films
2010s fantasy comedy films
Films about families
Films about witchcraft
Films based on children's books
Films produced by Eric Fellner
Films produced by Tim Bevan
Films scored by James Newton Howard
Films set in 1943
Films set in England
Films set in London
Films shot in Buckinghamshire
Films shot in London
Films shot in Surrey
Films with screenplays by Emma Thompson
Films about nannies
Relativity Media films
StudioCanal films
Universal Pictures films
Working Title Films films
American World War II films
British World War II films
French World War II films
2010s historical comedy films
Historical comedy films
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American historical comedy films
Films directed by Susanna White
2010s American films
2010s British films