The Nanny Diaries (Widescreen Edition) |  | Directors: Shari Springer Berman, Robert Pulcini
Actors: Paul Giamatti, Laura Linney, Scarlett Johansson, Donna Murphy, Judith Roberts
Studio: Weinstein Company
Category: DVD
List Price: $14.95
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Rating:  51 reviews
Sales Rank: 15895
Format: Closed-captioned, Color, Widescreen, NTSC
Languages: English (Original Language), French (Original Language)
Rating: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Region: 1
Number Of Discs: 1
Running Time: 104 Minutes
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1
Dimensions (in): 7.1 x 5.4 x 0.6
MPN: 80348
UPC: 796019803489
EAN: 0796019803489
ASIN: B000VKL6T8
Theatrical Release Date: 2007
Release Date: December 4, 2007
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Product Description
Movie DVD
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Based on the best-selling book of the same name, the film version of The Nanny Diaries is a cute chick flick, but it lacks the witty tone of the novel, which took time to flesh out the characters. The tone is set early on when the narrator notes, "In Africa they have the saying: 'It takes a village to raise a child.' But for the tribe of the Upper Eastside of Manhattan, it takes just one person: the nanny." Recent college graduate Annie Braddock (a brunette Scarlett Johansson) becomes the nanny for Mr. and Mrs. X, a narcissistic and selfish couple who have no clue that what their precocious son Grayer really needs is a mom and a dad who will pay attention to him. At first, Annie can't believe her good fortune. Caring for Grayer a few hours each day in the X's luxurious apartment seems like a dream job. But as her job turns into a 24/7 nightmare, she loses her identity and becomes Nanny. Annie's attempts to befriend her oddly charismatic boss are met with rebuffs by Mrs. X (Laura Linney). When Annie mentions her home life, Mrs. X is stunned. "Nanny, you never mentioned you had a mother," she says, as if she expected that nannies were shot out of giant pods. Despite the film's flaws, Linney is a standout. Like Meryl Streep, who made an unlikeable character sympathetic in The Devils Wears Prada, Linney brings humor to her role. Unfortunately, Paul Giamatti (as the philandering Mr. X) and singer Alicia Keys (as Annie's best friend Lynette) are wasted in their thankless roles. While we are meant to feel sorry for Annie, we are left wondering why a beautiful and educated young American woman would allow herself to be manipulated into working ridiculous hours for less than minimum-wage pay. When Annie finally does stand up to her employers, it's a little too late. For everyone. --Jae-Ha Kim
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Showing reviews 1-5 of 51
 Superficial Life Lessons Eked Out of a Trivial Urban Fairy Tale January 6, 2008
Ed Uyeshima (San Francisco, CA USA)
10 out of 10 found this review helpful
It's disheartening to see such a sparkling cast put through the motions of a tiresome mainstream trifle like this 2007 adaptation of the lightweight bestseller of the same name by one-time nannies Emma McLaughlin and Nicola Kraus. Directed and written by the husband-wife team of Shari Springer Berman and Robert Pulcini (who previously partnered on the smart and quirky American Splendor about underground comic book writer Harvey Pekar), this movie would seem ripe for a sharp satire about the privileged class on the Upper East Side. However, the trite life-lessons orientation of this modern-day fairy tale escapes their idiosyncratic grasp, and the result is a superficial slog with a particularly narcissistic perspective.
The story centers on New Jersey-bred Annie Braddock, freshly graduated with honors from NYU, who realizes during a corporate interview that she doesn't know what she wants to do with her life. As an anthropology major, she sees life as a series of Museum of Natural History dioramas (a particularly contrived device used repeatedly in the film). By happenstance in Central Park, she is recruited to become a nanny for the unfortunately named Grayer, the towheaded son of a glamorous, designer-clothed society matron referred to as Mrs. X. The trappings are luxurious at Mrs. X's apartment, but things go sour almost immediately when Mrs. X's demands on Annie become excessive. It turns out that the Mrs. X is in a bad marriage which has left the Mrs. desperate for her workaholic husband's attentions while ignoring her son. As this personal drama unfolds, Grayer becomes attached to Annie, and she responds in kind, which of course, can only lead to complications.
As much as I like Scarlett Johansson, she is not a natural at this type of character-driven comedy (unless you count the skits she does on Saturday Night Live where she plays Lexie, the glammed-up Jersey girl pointing repeatedly to chandeliers and marble columns). She just isn't that credible as a dowdy, naïve post-graduate perhaps because she has already been seen in past films as a savvy and often world-weary bombshell. Her physical antics here seem especially strained and her tirades rather forced. It's not a bad performance as much as it is a misuse of her talent. Faring somewhat better is the always reliable Laura Linney, who gets to look gorgeous for a change and then uncover a wickedly vituperative woman rattled by her deep-seeded insecurity. The relationship between the two characters will likely remind you of The Devil Wears Prada, a much better adaptation of a lightweight roman-a-clef, although Mrs. X is not as complex or intimidating a character as fashion magazine editor Miranda Priestly.
Relegated to the sidelines is Paul Giamatti properly villainous as Mr. X, an adulterous, insensitive lout of a husband and father. Chris Evans colorlessly plays Harvard Hottie, Annie's preppy, kind-hearted suitor upstairs, while Nicholas Art simply doesn't register any real warmth as Grayer. Broadway great Donna Murphy shows up effectively as Annie's working-nurse mother, Julie White has a few funny moments as an unctuous training seminar leader, and pop singer Alicia Keys plays the requisite best pal role with bohemian spunk. The story's resolution feels particularly pat. The 2007 DVD has a few extras - no commentary track but a standard making-of featurette about 17 minutes long. The second short, "Confessions from the Original Nannies: The Authors of the Bestselling Book", is marginally more interesting as the book's co-authors Kraus and McLaughlin discuss their own experiences as nannies and the book-to-movie transformation. Lastly, there is an amazingly dull blooper reel plus the original theatrical trailer.
Not half as good as it wants you to think it is September 10, 2007
Terry Mesnard (Bellevue, NE)
15 out of 18 found this review helpful
The Nanny Diaries fits into the same category as The Devil Wears Prada. Both feature women who take a plunge into a society that's not prepared for them and, more importantly, they aren't prepared for. In the Devil Wears Prada, the target is fashion. Here, the target is more broad: upper class Manhattanites with no time for their families.
The movie owes even more to The Devil Wears Prada (including a brief snippet that features the main character reading the novel in a wink-wink, nudge-nudge homage) and contains, unfortunately, none of the spark and cutting edge that the former had. Here we have the always beautiful Scarlett Johansson as an Anthropology student named Annie who is uncertain about her future and what she wants to be in the real world. Instead of facing the future, she stumbles upon Mrs. X (played with icy chill by Laura Linney) who mistakes her name Annie as "nanny" and immediately the park seems crowded with Manhattanites who want her services.
Long story short, she gets the job and, like a certain fashionista, discovers she bit off more than she can chew. Along the route, she meets the "Harvard Hottie" (Chris Evans) and the lecherous and incredibly creepy Mr. X (played by Paul Giamatti in a role very unlike his others) and learns about love, life and the importance of "following your dreams"(tm).
While the story is humorous in parts and I really enjoyed the framing as an anthropology experiment where it's Annie looking from the outside in and learning about this absolutely foreign culture, it suffers from pacing problems. The beginning was amusing and fun and so was the ending. How they got there, though, was not worth the time. Director Shari Springer Berman worked magic in her adaptation of American Splendor (also featuring Paul Giamatti), but none of that spark is found here.
I will say it has a great cast. Paul Giamatti is terrific as is Laura Linney, who I've always enjoyed. Even Chris Evans who has come a long way from his roots in Not Another Teen Movie is enjoyable. This strong cast led by the always pretty Scarlett Johansson really helps the movie and carry the film. Unfortunately, their parts don't truly resonate the way they should. I think this is what separates this movie from The Devil Wears Prada. Whereas the characters in Prada felt real and carried a spark, here they merely feel like caricatures.
There's some really cute and good scenes, but overall it's too little too late, especially when faced with the tremendously better The Devil Wears Prada of last year. I'd recommend waiting for a renter.
Cute, for what it is.
 Better than three stars August 7, 2008
Bradley F. Smith (Miami Beach, FL)
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
I never read the book, so I saw this fresh and thought it was fairly well done. I didn't think the fantasy red umbrella, like Mary Poppins, added anything, though the extras make a big deal out of it. The 5th Avenue family is well played, if overacted somewhat. Paul Giamatti is great as the rich father. Scarlett Johansson has a decent script to work with, and she comes off well. See this for some light entertainment. I wouldn't really call it a chick flick.
A new world... the big city! October 20, 2007
H. Paratte (grafton, n-s,canada)
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
this movie is really good. Ok, so scarlett Johansson is almost always in great movies but this one is sweet and shows a different way of looking at the 'high class' society,and nannies of course! she delivers a good performence and the kid too.With unexpected twists and a good ending this was a fine movie to enjoy while sipping on hot chocolate.
A modern-day Mary Poppins March 16, 2008
Melissa Niksic (Chicago, IL United States)
4 out of 5 found this review helpful
I was pleasantly surprised by this movie, which is an adaptation of the hilarious book by the same name. "The Nanny Diaries" stars Scarlett Johansson as Annie, a recent college grad who decides to postpone her impending business career and takes a job as a nanny for Grayer, a young boy who lives on the Upper East Side in New York City. Annie quickly discovers that her new life as "Nanny" isn't all it's cracked up to be. Grayer's father, Mr. X (Paul Giamatti), is an adulterous workaholic who's never at home, and Mrs. X (Laura Linney) is a completely hands-off mom who is also the Employer from Hell. Even though she desperately wants to quit her job, Annie decides to stick it out because she can't bear to leave poor little Grayer alone with his crazy inattentive parents.
Overall, I enjoyed this film. It wasn't quite as funny as the book, but the cast is excellent, especially Johansson and Linney. This is one of those rare instances where a lot of elements from the book were changed for the big screen adaptation, and most of the changes didn't bother me all that much (having Annie live with the X's, Mr. X making a pass at Annie, etc.). The ending of the movie is different from the book, in that Mrs. X actually manages to grow a heart at the end of the film, which SO does not happen in the novel! I prefer the way the book gave an honest depiction of the fact that there are a lot of horrible parents in the world who will just never change, but I'm sure the Hollywood types prefer a happy ending whenever possible, and that's what they gave this film. As a standalone movie, I think the ending was perfectly fine...I just like the book version better, that's all.
In spite of a few minor flaws, "The Nanny Diaries" really delivers. It's a light, fun little movie that I recommend.
Showing reviews 1-5 of 51
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