Annie (1999) - 6 stars out of 10

Annie (1999) - 6 stars out of 10

I'm a purist who typically prefers the original, but this version of "Annie" is REALLY enjoyable!  I will try to review this as its own entity instead of constantly drawing comparisons to the original 1981 version.  I really like Alicia Morton as Annie.  She seems less "dated" than the original (oops, comparison) and has a nice voice.  Kathy Bates and Alan Cumming were fantastic as Miss Hannigan and Rooster, but they did not achieve the comic chemistry accomplished by Carol Burnett and Tim Curry in the original (grr, comparison again!)  I don't feel that Kristin Chenoweth reached her potential and Audra McDonald had a beautiful singing voice but just didn't feel like Grace.  Victor Garber is the one who surprised me - based on his picture on the DVD cover, I never expected him to fit this role but his chemistry with Morton was very nice, and his singing was even nicer.  I can talk about the cast all day but the reason that this film keeps stride with the original is because well-written songs like Hard Knock Life are so much fun, regardless of the version.  My main complaint is the amount of the story that is left out.  I understand that they are limited on time because this is a made-for-tv movie but they just did not give enough time for the relationships to properly develop.  In fact, Grace and Warbucks only share about 10 minutes of screentime and magically, they are in love without any chemistry.  The film feels even more rushed when it's like "We need to find Annie's parents!  Oh well, we spent a day searching and came up empty, might as well give up and adopt her."  By cutting out the radio show and the visit to the White House, the search for Annie's parents feels half-hearted, which weakens the character of Daddy Warbucks.  He is supposed to care about Annie so much that he will even do the thing that will take her away from him, but I just wasn't buying that.  And what about Franklin Delano Roosevelt, who is such an important part of the Broadway show?  Oh, let's just toss him in at the end for good measure.  I can be critical, but the fact remains that I was very entertained by the film and it had the same emotional impact as the original (that was my last comparison, I promise!)  I don't really understand what it is about this show that makes me cry so much.  I mean, the dog runs to her when she calls it.  No big deal, right?  I honestly don't understand but there must be something very special about the music, to be able to affect me this way even when I purposefully try not to care.  I particularly loved the arrangement of Tomorrow that Grace sings, with Maybe playing as a countermelody overtop of it.  Say what you will about "Annie," but this is a story that is just as much for adults as it is for kids (if not more), and it teaches a few lessons that we could all stand to be reminded of.