In 1933 New York City, a young girl of 10 year old named Annie is hopeful that her parents will one day pick her up from the orphanage they dropped her off at as a baby. She and all the other girls there are forced into harsh labor by their mean mistress, Miss Hannigan. Miss Hannigan even forces them to say that they love her.

At some point, Annie goes out to find her parents. But she finds a stray dog instead whom she adopts and names Sandy. Sandy begins to trust Annie as his new owner.

However, a cop finds her, and takes her back to the orphanage. She and the other girls continue to perform labor.

Sometime later, a friendly lady named Grace Farrell comes to the orphanage and asks Ms. Hannigan to invite one of the orphans to stay at the wealthy Oliver Warbucks’s mansion. While hiding, Annie hints to Miss Farrell that she is interested.

Once Miss Farrell, finds that out. She gladly takes Annie out of the orphanage.

After arriving at the mansion, Annie is intrigued with how great she will be treated there and how much is going to be offerred to her. However, once Mr. Warbucks arrives, he is shocked by Annie’s presence, and clarifies that he wanted a boy. But Miss Farrell convinces him to let Annie stay and that she’ll only be there for a week. Luckily, he accepts Annie.

That evening, the 2 take Annie to the movie theater, where they see the film, Camille. Annie falls asleep at the end, though. So, Mr. Warbucks carries her back to the car and into her bed.

He also feels like he wants to adopt her. So, Ms. Farrell promises to take him to the orphanage and meet with Ms. Hannigan. That way, he can sign some adoption papers.

However, when Annie finds out about this, she declines. She has half a locket that belonged to her parents in hopes that one day they will take her back into the family.

Willing to help her, Mr. Warbucks goes on a radio show and offers $50,000 to Annie’s parents.

Later, Mr. Warbucks and Ms. Farrell fly Annie to the White House in Washington D.C. There, they meet President Franklin D. Roosevelt and his wife, Eleanor. Annie’s story prompts the president to start a program to help those who are impoverished.

Despite the high offer of money, though, Annie finds out that none of the people know about the locket from her parents. Yet she decides not to give up.

Meanwhile, at the orphanage, Miss Hannigan, meets with her con artist brother, Rooster and his girlfriend, Lily St. Regis. They plan to claim that they are Annie’s parents, regardless of how her real parents actually died in a fire when she was an infant.

The 3 collect Annie’s belongings, including the other half of the locket from her parents. Annie’s friends happen to eavesdrop the conversation and try to sneak out to save her – only to get caught and locked up in a closet.

When Annie’s “parents” come to take her, Annie is sad to leave Mr. Warbucks’s home. And once they drive away with her, their true colors show.

Can Annie still be saved?

Since I have seen a live performance of the musical before, I knew the story already. However, I was surprised to see a lot of changes made in the film.

One example is how the movie is set around the summertime. The live show is set during the holiday season.

But many of the songs in this film were also in the stage play. Examples include “Tomorrow,” “It’s the Hard Knock Life,” and “You’re Never Fully Dressed Without a Smile.”

There is also this song, “I Think I’m Gonna Like it Here.” It reminded me of the Family Guy song, “This House is Freaking Sweet.” Not surprisingly, the latter was heavily inspired by the former.

Annie was a very likable and sweet character. I admired how she was kind, enthusiastic, and optimistic.

I did find it strange that she kissed Molly, a 6-year-old orphan, when she got upset over a nightmare. Yes, she was trying to comfort her. But a kid kissing a child to comfort them when they’re not related to them is a bit much.

Although I admired the strengths of this film, unfortunately, I ended up not enjoying it as much as I hoped. The reason is because there was not enough tension.

Yes, it should feel nice when good things happen to a character with a tragic backstory. And I am glad that Annie got treated better at Mr. Warbucks’s mansion.

However, when too many scenes go too long without conflict, even just a little bit, the story starts becoming dull. On the bright side, tension levels did increase later on in the movie.

Overall, I ended up finding Annie to be decent. It’s not so much the differences from the live musical that bothered me. Rather, it was the low levels of conflict.

I give this film 3.5 out of 5 stars.