The Nanny Diaries (2007)

Truly Dreadful Film

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.

It is a whirlwind of delight --- attractive actors, stunning couture, spectacular sets and outrageous parties.

Although I seem to have had higher expectations than I thought, the movie is super entertaining.

Scarlett Johansson teams up with her Avengers Assemble co star Chris Evans in this underrated drama about a college graduate named Annie(Johanson)who has to mind a little boy who's parents go by Mrs & Mr X(played by Paul Giamatti from The Amazing Spiderman 2 and Laura Linney)who are sorta uptight and Annie finds it hard to keep up with Mrs X's terms,while Mrs' X's husband is cheating on her with a much more younger woman. Of course Annie later meets Harvard Hottie(Chris Evans)and has a slight crush on him. So will Annie ever fit in New York City as nanny for the spoilt rotten boy who isn't too keen on Annie in the beginning of the film when he first meets her at the park. Also starring Tangled star Donna Murphy as Scarlett Johansson's mother, and Alicia Keys as Annie's friend,its not a bad film but its not that great either.The story has been done to death before,parts of it reminded me of Raising Helen meets The Devil Wears Prada but having said that if you like the actors in this film than check it out.C- 5/10The ending was sorta off for me but the rest of the film is OK.

Not sure what I think of this. We have a young girl, fresh out of school, bound to make it in the world take on a Nanny job. She has anthropological motives, she narrates, and basically studies a certain lifestyle that's supposed to be common to New York.Now, I like the way the movie was made like a diary. I like the way they displayed things like in a museum (I forgot the name of those envirosomethings behind glass) and how Annie approached the entire situation almost scientifically. I like the actors, the acting, even though the kid was not convincing. He was a bit wooden, but he was only 6 or 7 years old so it's no disaster.What really got me thinking is the reason why someone wanted to make a film like this. Is this really the way it is? Dads in important jobs spend no time at home, wives have no education and no jobs and still need Nannies? How screwed up do these children end up to be? I had the urge to punch every single one of those prissy child-producers (not calling them mothers) in that Parent something group. In a way it was a good film, because the characters really looked the part and you really wanted to beat them.Anyhow, Scarlett is a fine actress and this is a fine film. Think about it, and try to be a good parent.

New Jersey college grad goes to New York City to conquer the business world, mangles one job interview and ends up on the Upper East Side working as a nanny (seen as a professional dead-end). Her boss is a high-strung society wife whose husband cheats on her and whose bratty child represents a trophy that needs to be polished. Emma McLaughlin's and Nicola Kraus' bestseller has been unfortunately transformed into a movie blueprint on how not to adapt a successful novel to the screen. With one foot in reality and the other in "Legally Blonde"-land, the film doesn't know what tone to aim for, and the talented cast is left clueless. The writing-directing team of Shari Springer Berman and Robert Pulcini fails to shape the picture comedically, so that many of the characters come off as repugnant. Distressingly routine and obvious despite a glossy production, with preciously-placed pop songs posted on the soundtrack like highway signs. *1/2 from ****

Recent college grad Annie Braddock (Scarlett Johansson) is all set for a career in business when she quite literally falls into a position as nanny for the four-year-old son (Nicholas Art) of a snooty, self-absorbed Upper East Side socialite named Alexandra X, played by a sadly miscast Laura Linney (among many of the movie's wearisomely cutesy touches is not giving a surname to the family that hires her).Based on the novel by Emma McLaughlin and Nicola Kraus, "The Nanny Diaries" is, unfortunately, every bit as predictable and trite as its simpleminded premise would lead one to expect. Beyond trafficking in just about every stereotype and cliché imaginable - the heartless, neurotic, slave-driving elitists; the sensitive knight-in-shining armor love interest (Chris Evans); the nagging, free-living best friend; the lecherous, nanny-chasing husband (Paul Giamatti) - the movie is woefully unsuccessful even at treading that fine line between cleverness and cuteness that can make or break a film of this type. There is an affectionate tribute to "Mary Poppins" that - early on at least - suggests that the movie might actually try to do something a little daring, a little different. But that air of fanciful creativity is quickly squelched in favor of formulaic storytelling and cookie cutter characterizations.Interestingly, the filmmakers, for all their championing of the women employed as nannies, seem to have almost as low an opinion of the profession itself as do the elite snobs who appear on screen.All told, Johansson is really the only decent thing about "The Nanny Diaries" (well, little Nicholas Art is pretty cool too), but even her staunchest admirers would be well advised to look the other way when it comes to this film.