Nanny McPhee

Emma Thompson stars in a film she wrote | Andrew Coffin

Nanny McPhee is a sort of cross between Mary Poppins and ABC's Supernanny (or, if you prefer, Fox's Nanny 911). While the film is neither the classic that is the former nor as instructive as the latter, Nanny McPhee is a pleasant British family diversion.

Based on Christianna Brand's Nurse Matilda books, Nanny McPhee (rated PG for mild thematic elements, some rude humor, and brief language) begins, as do many episodes of Supernanny, with a household full of screaming, out-of-control children. Cedric Brown (Colin Firth) is the hapless widower father of a brood of seven—four girls, three boys—intent on running every nanny charged with their care out of the house as quickly as possible. The score stands at kids, 17, nannies, 0, when the mysterious Nanny McPhee (the great Emma Thompson, who also wrote the script) arrives on the scene.