Nanny Diaries

This wasn't well liked by the critics but I watched it on TV and thought it was pretty good, that's mostly down to the cast though. Laura Linney is fantastic as Mrs. X, a snooty neurotic upper east side socialite and Paul Giomatti is perfect as her nasty adulterous husband. Just a pig of a man.

I always enjoy Scarlett Johansson and she does a good job with the material here, her role isn't much of a stretch, even cheesy at times but she was enjoyable. The romance aspect with Chris Evans kinda took a back seat and was lost.

Described as "a hilarious adaption of the bestselling novel" (I wouldn't go that far) it is however entertaining. Johansson plays 'Annie', a recent college grad who takes a job as a live in nanny for the very wealthy X's, looking after their troubled son -who I suppose was meant to be cute and precocious but for the most part I just found bratty and annoying.

The story itself was okay, it didn't blow me away or anything, but it was enjoyable enough. 'Nanny' is such a nice, sympathetic character that you want to see how it all plays out for her. Watching this did make me want to read the book. 8/24/15

Like chamomile tea, the Nanny Diaries is fragrant, has a delicate almost bland taste, is not bad at all, but after a while is totally forgotten.

It is not going to harm you, but is not going to be a memorable experience either.

For a movie that was supposed to be a comedy, this one is missing a few laughters. There are a few funny moments, but for the most part it is a light drama.

This is a typical chick-flick for a cold rainy day. It is not a kid's movie, by the way...

Many seem to be disappointed with 'The Nanny Dairies' because of its failure to properly deliver the social commentary about New York women of different class. However, I agree to an extent that it does not go into the depth of the theme in order to be a good satire but it remained nonetheless an entertaining flick. The film seems to mainly focus on Annie's view of the upper class (as she works as a nanny for such a family) and therein lies a danger, where she pretty much (as we are shown), in her own assessment generalizes her conclusion from one experience and in the other cases, with one encounter.

Now regarding the family she works for, Mr.X is a complete caricature of the businessman jerk who constantly cheats on his wife by shagging anything wearing short skirts or hotpants and he is bitter towards his family (including wife, son and even own mother). Mrs. X is portrayed under a more humane light. She is definitely in denial about a marriage that has already been long dead and she copes with it by avoiding herself from her own son and giving more focus to trivial away-from-home activities while believing that her husband still loves her. Amidst all this, it is the son who suffers.

Scarlett Johanssen is a miscast. She does not seem comfortable with comedy (as has been evident as well in Woody Allen's 'Scoop') and her outburst scene in the end looks theatrical. However, she is quite good in the scenes that display Annie's stress and fatigue while taking care of Grayer and overall, Johanssen does try to deliver. The child actor does not convince. Alicia Keys is forgettable and Chris Evans plays the clichéd rich white guy boyfriend. Ravishing Laura Linney is fabulous. Her character is technically a bitch but there is a vulnerability and depth that she draws which allows the audience to somewhat sympathize for Mrs. X. Paul Giamatti suffers from bad writing.

Despite the flaws, 'The Nannie Diaries' was quite enjoyable. I was not bored. I laughed at a few scenes and was interested to know what Scarlett's Annie would do to finally confront Mrs. X. The sets, though typical New York, was nice to look at. The Mary Poppins reference with the Umbrella was a bit pointless. In my opinion, this film is much better than the likes of pretentious movies like 'The Devil Wears Prada'.

This is an entertaining feature, if not as enjoyable as 'The Devil Wears Prada'. 'The Nanny Diaries' takes aim at upper class New Yorkers who neglect their kids leaving them with their hassled nannies. There are numerous stinging barbs and Laura Linney is excellent in a slightly underwritten role as the tyrannical employer. Scarlett Johansson is good as the confused college graduate who bravely enters the bizarre world of New York nannies. Paul Giamatti turns in yet another fine performance as the uncaring adulterous husband. The film is a trifle weak dramatically but the satire more than makes up for it.

Overall 7/10

When this movie was unceremoniously yanked back in April 2007, right before its initially scheduled release, I thought it must be pretty bad. I had enjoyed the book, and so was already disappointed. But I decided to see it anyway, just out of curiosity. At first, I found myself finding fault...like when the preschool doors just open up and small children pour out of it onto the street. Like that's going to happen in an urban area ANYWHERE in this country what with all the fear of kidnapping we have these days. That and a few other little niggly details bothered me at first, but as the movie went on, I found myself caring about the characters; enjoying the story. It's not like the book, but that's probably good. I don't think the book is written in a way that would translate well to the big screen. The ending was a bit happier than the book, but in this kind of movie, the happy ending was welcome. I found myself enjoying this movie in spite of my own predisposition to be underwhelmed by it. It's not going to win any Oscars or anything, but I thought it a find effort for all involved, particularly Laura Linney, Paul Giamatti, and Scarlet Johansen!