A Nanny for Christmas

"A Nanny for Christmas" is a 2010 comedy film, directed by Michael Feifer with a screenplay by Michael Ciminera and Richard Gnolfo. Starring Emmanuelle Vaugier, Dean Cain, Richard Ruccolo, Cynthia Gibb, and Sierra McCormick, the film was released November 23, 2010. [1]

Ally (Emmanuelle Vaugier) is a smart young career woman who find herself needing a new job. Samantha (Cynthia Gibb) is a busy Beverly Hills advertising executive/mom who's always too busy to take care of her kids. Danny Donner (Dean Cain) is the tough-guy owner of a chocolate company who wants a major hit ad for his company. This film is the 40th Christmas film I have seen this year. Now there certain things you expect in a Christmas film. That's what gives these films a bad name. This film however has some of the things you expect but I love the fact that the children in this film are not brats to begin with. "They are nice kids".

I borrowed this DVD. I am not sure where it will play on TV. Look for it on Hallmark or the UP Channel. Family Safe and worth seeking out.

Dean Cain plays VERY against type in this movie, as a bombastic company owner. When Ally Leeds, an advertising exec, pitches a campaign including an element certain to anger him, he storms out of the room and fires her ad agency, leading to her dismissal.

Later, thinking she's interviewing for a job at another agency as an ad exec, the owner of that agency thinks she's applying as a nanny and gives her that job. A bit desperate for ANY income, she accepts.

He unorthodox nanny techniques are fun, but complication arise when she falls for an ad exec at that company and pretends to also work there as an ad exec.

This is a fun movie, not at the top of our list, but one we're just fine with seeing again from time to time. It helps that we love Dean Cain, even though his role here is minor and, as I wrote, against type.

A movie where the protagonist creates an unnecessary problem for herself.

Emmanuelle Vaugier plays a suma cum laud college graduate trying to break into the world of advertising. She interviews with one of the hottest agencies in the field, where she thinks she's interviewing for an account executive position but is instead hired as the nanny for the CEO's two children. Along the way she begins to fall in love with one of the agency's male executives who is struggling to come up with a pitch for a major client. Thinking that the executive will think less of her for being a nanny, she lies and tells him that she's a "special consultant" to the agency, hoping to impress him. As the nanny, she teaches the children that Shakespeare can be fun... if you set up your own play. Regimented in their behavior by their over-bearing mother and absentee father, the children embrace their new nanny's ideas of how to do things (hence the references to the "Sound of Music").

Already we know how the movie will end, but what makes you want to stick around and watch is (a) Ms. Vaugier, who does a great job of being the playful nanny as well as the business-first executive, and (b) a simple, straight-forward plot that you can watch over hot cocoa and spongecake.

You probably won't cry at the end, but at least you'll laugh at the more humorous moments.

This is an above average Christmas film to make you feel happy and full of the joy of the season. It tells the story of Ally (Vaugier), an advertising executive who loses her job just weeks before Christmas. Unable to pay the bills and mortgage she asks her friend, Tina (Thompson) for a lending hand, as her sister works for a top Advertising Agency. Unfortunately, there's some confusion in what positions she's applying for and instead of getting a job in the company Ally is hired to Nanny the bosses kids.

One of the saving graces of the film is that the kids are not nasty. So many of these types of film have the children being shown that it's better to be nice than naughty, so as to avoid Santa's naughty list. So what we have is a heartwarming tale of a family pulled apart by ambition and career finding their way back to the right track and getting their priorities straight.

The acting, on the whole, is pretty decent, though there are a few moments where Cain does a good job of hamming it up. I'm not too sure if this is intentional, though, for me, the film would have been stronger if his character had been straight and not over the top - as the comedic value was lost to the film.

Overall, this is a nice Christmas film that I would recommend to all who love this time of year. It's also a nice family drama and romance, so if you enjoy them then grab a hot chocolate and put your feet up this winter and enjoy.