Nanny McPhee [PG]

7 naughty children. 1 completely frazzled father. Serious help is needed! Emma Thompson is Nanny McPhee, here to set everything straight.

So here I am, tissue in hand, after watching Nanny McPhee, possibly the greatest nanny-fairytale since Mary Poppins.

Mr Brown has 7 children "who are all very bright, but very very naughty". Being a widower, Mr Brown has had the assistance of a rich in-law in supporting his large family, but now the line has been drawn. He must re-marry within the month or his monthly allowance will stop. His children however, are causing him constant grief, having gotten rid of 17 nannies in the past month.

They say great answers arise in the most desperate hour, and out of nowhere, an unusual nanny with very unique methods appears on Mr Brown's doorstep to help straighten things out.

Emma Thompson is Nanny McPhee and she is simply beautiful, not physically though. Throughout the film she had to suffer warts, frizzed hair, a pronounced nose and an even more pronounce front tooth, but as we've all been told, it's not the outside, but the inside that counts. Emma is simply wonderful. With severe stares, the occasional "hmm" and a little bit of magic, it's not only the children who change in this movie.

Colin Firth stars as the frazzled Mr Brown. I must admit he plays the 'in-over-his-head' father part rather well. There is much head banging, screaming and the occasional falling down the stairs, but he ploughs through the whole thing with a gentleman's dignity. I personally do think that Colin Firth is a gentleman, I simply love him.

Behind Emma and Colin is a string of greats including Celia Imrie, Kelly Macdonald, Imelda Staunton and Angela Lansbury who try to balance out the mayhem.

And we can't forget Thomas Sangster, Eliza Bennett, Raphael Coleman, Jennifer Rae Daykin, Samuel Honywood, and Holly Gibbs who make up the mayhem of the movie.

The screenplay is actually written by Emma Thompson and with a lovely little script, the occasional practical joke and very colourful costumes, Nanny McPhee is a wonderful family fantasy movie that will have you smiling the whole way through.