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Just perfect...

As Good As It Gets

Let me be very fair here, this is not the best movie in my opinion. But, this movie is fun, it has purpose and is very enjoyable to watch.

There's no way I can possibly love it entirely but I just think its ridiculously bad, but enjoyable at the same time.

Let me start by saying I was unhappy with the 1982 version. I've hated the way they've handled the songs and replaced the original Broadway ones with generic ones. So, obviously, I was hoping this version was going to be better, well, it wasn't. Actually, the only thing it has better than the 1982 version are how the songs are handled, the rest is just better on the older one.My first issue with this movie is the casting. I understand Annie was originally played by a blond (Andrea McArdle). Yet, the Broadway musical still liked to remind us that the character was, indeed, red headed. Why did they cast a brunette to play Annie? Then, we have the racially diverse orphans and Grace, who's now black. Seriously, this story is set on the 30's, it was completely unlikely for the time to have racially diverse orphanages, much less racially diverse romance between powerful figures. Finally, who was the genius that decided to cast Kathy Bates to play Miss Hannigan? She does not look like her original incarnation on Broadway, much less the 1982 incarnation. I also find it impressive how all the orphans remain beautiful, pink-cheeked, well-dressed girls, even though they're supposed to be poor.My second issue with the movie is the plot alterations. Why didn't they include Miss Hannigan being an alcoholic? It makes no sense, later on the movie, Rooster pulls off a knife and outright implies he's gonna slit Annie's throat. Then, we have Lily, who does absolutely NOTHING in the movie, she's just there. The role of Annie's fake mom is given to Hannigan, which makes even less sense than the previous change. How did Annie, the girl who spent her entire life hating this woman and knows what she's like, not notice she was posing as her mother? I will never know. But wait, but there's more. Instead of giving Lily an actual role, they have decided she was gonna be the one to ruin Rooster and Hannigan's plan. Way to go, writers! Oh, and also, Sandy does absolutely nothing in this film, he just follows Annie around, barks at fake Annie's parents, and that's it. This just blows compared to the 1982 version, where he actually helped saving both Annie's and Warbuck's lives.Now, my biggest issue with this movie: It has zero character development. Things happen so fast, it's almost unbelievable how characters like each other. When Grace comes to pick Annie up, she just decides to take the first girl she sees, Annie does NOTHING to win her over. Then, Annie and Mr. Warburck's relationship. It starts with Annie asking to watch him working, then cut to a musical number, then they're suddenly all Father-Daughter figure. To top it off, Sandy comes in right at the end and jumps over Mr. Warbuck's car. Grace just says "Well, sir, you've always wanted a dog!" and that's it: Warbucks and Sandy are great friends! Really, now? But despite all the issues, I think this movie is still really enjoyable. It would've been perfect, had it followed 1982's version and fixed the musical numbers. Sadly, it didn't happen. But at least, most of it was very faithful to the original Broadway production, which I respect Disney for.

First of all I really like both the 1982 version and the 1999 version- the reason why I do prefer the 1982 version is because that in particular is a childhood favourite. I do admit there was a time when I didn't really like this, but now considering that it was a TV remake, and that it is a lot more faithful to the stage play, it is not as bad as I initially thought. True it is too short, and despite her truly beautiful voice I just wasn't sure about Audra MacDonald as Grace. For my tastebuds, it was a tad sugary sweet at times for my liking. However, it does look lovely, and the music is marvellous, and the same with the 1982 version. The performances are great too. I really loved Aileen Quinn,(and I wish people would stop making horrible comments about her) but Alicia Morton is closer than what Annie is like in the stage show, in terms of age, and while both girls were wonderful, Morton has got the better voice. Annie's friends were well done too, but the scene stealer has to be Kathy Bates as Miss Hannigan, just like the wonderful Carol Burnett. There were times when she was absolutely hilarious, and Victor Garber while just lacking the gruffness of Albert Finney was a delight as Daddy Warbucks. Alan Cumming and Kristen Chenoweth were fine as Rooster and Lily, and I also much enjoyed the portrayals of Tim Curry(who is my favourite actor of all time and vastly underrated as an actor) and Bernadette Peters. This version is closer to the stage musical, and has a real Christmas feel to it. The problem I had with the 1982 version were John Huston's direction, and I know they changed the ending, but to be fair, the 1982 version is NOT the first musical adaptation to take liberties with the stage musical, how about My Fair Lady and Oklahoma! Overall, seeing this again recently proved my initial opinion of it wrong. 7/10 Bethany Cox

Like the ridiculous notion that Ridley Scott was ostensibly toying with a few years ago of remaking 'Citizen Kane' this re-adaptation of 'Annie' pales beside John Huston's magnificent film of this stage musical. However, Rob Marshall before 'Chicago' is clearly very much in charge of the theatrics, and his choreography and mise en scene is fine. The problem is simply in the casting. Almost without exception, the roles are, simply, too big for the players. In singing & dancing, Alicia Morton can stand beside Aileen Quinn, but not in charisma and screen presence. Victor Garber and, particularly, Audra McDonald slip further down the comparison ladder, as does Alan Cumming. While Kathy Bates is no Carol Burnett, however, she does give a certain gravitas to Miss Hannigan. Only improvement, as far as I can see is that Sandy makes a better mutt. For cinephiles, also, there is a major let-down in the substitution of the anaemic 'NYC' for the sensational 'Let's go to the movies' sequence in Huston's film. All of the above notwithstanding, if we remember it is only a TV movie, with all of the budgetary implications of that, it is an honourable effort, but why would anyone want to watch this rather that Huston's minor masterpiece.

I saw clips from the new movie and immediately wanted to see it. I think there are good points and bad points to each movie. I think that the new movie had a better Annie and molly. But i think the old one had a better Mrs. Hannigan and daddy Warbucks. I like the new one better though. I still like the old one though. they both had very high spirited performances and incredible singing. The new one had better singing and acting.And its closer to the stage play.I think the new Annie is a whole lot prettier. Shes so adorable and i look to her as an inspiration.Don't get me wrong, the old annie is terrific but the new ones better. And Carol Burnett played Mrs.Hannigan perfectly. This is what i think about this movie