| Cast overview, first billed only: | |||
| Jamie Foxx | ... | Will Stacks | |
| Quvenzhané Wallis | ... | Annie | |
| Rose Byrne | ... | Grace | |
| Bobby Cannavale | ... | Guy | |
| Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje | ... | Nash | |
| David Zayas | ... | Lou | |
| Cameron Diaz | ... | Hannigan | |
| Zoe Margaret Colletti | ... | Tessie | |
| Nicolette Pierini | ... | Mia | |
| Eden Duncan-Smith | ... | Isabella | |
| Amanda Troya | ... | Pepper | |
| Dorian Missick | ... | Annie's "Dad" | |
| Tracie Thoms | ... | Annie's "Mom" | |
| Mike Birbiglia | ... | Social Services Inspector | |
| Stephanie Kurtzuba | ... | Mrs. Kovacevic | |
The 1977 Broadway musical returns to the big screen with this Overbrook Entertainment/Sony Pictures production surrounding a 10-year-old Harlem foster child (played by Beasts of the Southern Wild's Quvenzhané Wallis) taken in by a calculating billionaire (Jamie Foxx) who's campaigning to be mayor. Abandoned by her biological parents as a baby, Annie (Wallis) spends every moment of every day attempting to avoid the wrath of her cruel foster mother Miss Hannigan (Cameron Diaz). Thing start to look up for Annie, however, when she has a very public encounter with Will Stacks (Foxx), a local cell-phone mogul with mayoral ambitions. Stacks campaign isn't going too well until he meets Annie and invites her into his home at the suggestion of his trusted top assistant Grace (Rose Byrne) and his ambitious PR advisor Guy (Bobby Cannavale). Meanwhile, what was originally conceived as a PR stunt to win over skeptical voters becomes something much more personal when the jaded tycoon realizes his ...
Where to start...I loved the original and really, really, REALLY wanted to like the remake....but I didn't.
Taking into account that it is a modern remake and is so obviously aimed at the youth of today, it just disappointed me from the very start. The actors were fantastic, having to step into the shoes of such iconic characters and portray them in a modern way whilst keeping the vibe of the original was done really well. Hats off to all the actors that took on these roles and paid homage to the classic film we all know so well.
Having said that, I turned it off after 25 minutes. The lack of depth in this film was agonisingly painful, I kept waiting for that engaging moment, but it never came. I just found myself sitting through it in order to sing the songs. The dialogue was terrible and if the acting wouldn't have been so great then this film would have been a complete failure.
Not my cup of tea and I would choose the original over this any day