The Nanny Diaries
Rated: PG-13
Runtime: 1 hour, 45 minutes
Directed by: Shari Springer Berman & Robert Pulcini
Starring:
Scarlett Johansson - Annie Braddock
Chris Evans - Harvard Hottie
Alicia Keys - Lynette
Laura Linney - Mrs. X
Paul Giamatti - Mr. X
Nicholas Reese Art - Grayer
When The Weinstein Company (formerly Miramax) leaves a film on the shelf for eons, it’s always with the excuse that they don’t know how to sell it. That’s why Steven Chow’s Shaolin Soccer was quietly released and remains a cult gem because they didn’t know how to sell AWESOME. With The Nanny Diaries, they’re marketing fails them again as they have a film that’s more enjoyable and clever than the trailer would lead you to believe but also an unworthy successor to the writer/directors’ previous movie, American Splendor.
Annie (Scarlett Johansson) is an aspiring anthropologist who views the world through the lens of a detached observer. But rather than study unknown tribes of distant lands, Annie inadvertently wanders into the jungles of the Upper East Side of New York and a nanny position for the insanely wealthy and unhappy family known as “The Xs” (anonymity preserved for the sake of Annie’s diary) and their son who she affectionately refers to as Grover. While she begins to develop a bond with her charge, she becomes torn between protecting the child from his emotionally distant parents (Laura Linney and Paul Giamatti) and her desire to have a personal life.
Directors Robert Pulcini and Shari Springer Berman inject their brilliance into the film and make what would have been an otherwise completely forgettable film into a moderately charming affair. But unlike Splendor and the unique person of Harvey Pekar, Nanny Diaries can only go so deep in its study of the mundane. While Johansson is as beautiful as ever, she seems bored with her role and the unique spark she provided with her work in films like Lost In Translation and Ghost World just isn’t here and it really hurts the overall film.
The Nanny Diaries provide a nice distraction and manages to be enjoyable despite the aforementioned shortcomings and a bloated runtime, but while the Weinsteins struggle to sell a film that’s not as bad as this one turned out, the talent involved are capable of doing work far better than what the material provides.
Words by
Matt Goldberg
8.23.07