DVD Review

Title: The Nanny Diaries

Studio: Alliance/Universal

Director: Shari Springer Berman & Robert Pulcini

Principle Actors: Scarlett Johansson, Laura Linney, Paul Giamatti, Alicia Keys, Chris Evans

DVD Release: Dec 4^th 2007

Length: 106 Minutes

4 Stars

Reviewed By: Kindah Mardam Bey

I was well prepared for a frivolous romp through a romantic comedy plus an easily digestible life lesson when watching The Nanny Diaries, but I was quite surprised at how the film ended up having more depth than first expected. Based on the bestselling novel The Nanny Diaries, a fictional story based on the experiences by authors Emma McLaughlin and Nicola Kraus during their tenure as nannies on the Upper East Side. Fully committed to purchasing the paperback copy and reading it at some point, it appears that the film beat me to the punch line. Since the book came out in 2002 when I was fully committed to picking up a copy, my resolve had subsequently weakened over the years and the celluloid version seemed just as workable at this point, as the novel was highly successful, but then something else became highly successful, and so on.

A throwback to old Hollywood, actress Scarlett Johansson plays Annie Braddock, a fresh out of University graduate terrified to take on the real world. Her interview with a finance firm for a job asks ‘who is Annie Braddock,' to which Annie answers ‘That's an easy one,' then is unable to answer the question. Realizing Annie has no idea who she is, she flees from the interview onto a seat in Central Park which seems the most fitting escape plan. Annie rescues a child from a fast paced bicycle and the child's Mother is slow on her expensive high heels to catch up to the event. The Mother ‘Mrs. X,' played by Laura Linney, mistakes Annie for being a Nanny (yes it was meant to rhyme) and ends up proposing a job. Annie considers this the perfect way out of her indecisive life. Being a secondary education graduate and unhitched makes Annie very appealing as a Nanny to the malcontent Mother's of the Upper East Side. A bidding war ensues. Mrs. X finally lures Annie into the job position with promises of lunches out, teaching Annie how to horseback ride and all the general fun activities they will have together. Nan (Annie's new persona as Nanny) eagerly takes the position of the X's. Being a student of Anthropology at University, Nan also considers this a great way to observe women of the Upper East Side in their urban habitat.

Nan is quick to learn that being the Nanny is a crap job with highly illogical rules, rigid scheduling, little to no time off, no say and a general feeling of being swallowed up by a praying mantas (which is the infamous Mrs. X). A few highlights for Nan in a self-imposed dreary life is her friendship with Lynette played by Alicia Keys, her impending relationship with a man in the apartment complex addressed as Harvard Hottie for most of the film (played by Chris Evans), and of course her charge Grayer, played by Nicholas Art. Nan observes the Upper East Side family unit and reports about her findings in narrative form. At the point where Nan finally cracks, she has a complete meltdown and verbally attacks the Nanny cam. The film has a stunning, hilarious and downright honest climax.

The Nanny Diaries was a little hard to place for me, it's not really a film for children, and it does seem a little young for adults; perhaps teenage girls would enjoy this film. Yet, some of the performances stand out strong enough to make The Nanny Diaries more than a feel good film. Laura Linney's turn as Mrs. X has an amazing range of depth and complexity. In my own life I have been well acquainted with the empty-hearted-self-obsessed rich women who have clawed their way into importance, just as Linney plays. As the movie shows, and I've learned myself, these women are screaming out for life and are boxed in by social pressures. A great scene showcasing this is when Mrs. X barges into Nan's shoebox size room next to the constantly churning washer and dryer and asks Nan if a tarty piece of lingerie is hers. It isn't Nan's but she agrees to it being so as the look of shear desperation on Mrs. X's face begs for the lingerie to be Nan's and not a trinket of her husband's philandering ways.

Chris Evans (Fantastic Four) is an ideal fit as a sweet natured, well-to-do Harvard student without the arrogance his upbringing has afforded him. Evans seems casual and effortless in his performance. I can't say I have ever seen Scarlett Johansson put in a bad performance for a single film yet, and this one is no exception. Johansson is such a diverse actress that she can play the naïve Annie in this film and the seductress in The Black Dahlia with equal levity. The Nanny Diaries is directed by husband and wife directing team Shari Springer Berman & Robert Pulcini whose experience is in the field of documentaries, so this is a great turn for them into mainstream. The couple also wrote the screenplay and they have managed to create a nice balance between the real and the surreal in The Nanny Diaries.

The only character I felt was one dimensional and without any depth was Mr. X performed by Paul Giamatti. Of course Giamatti does a fantastic turn of playing the self-absorbed businessman constantly trying to be on his ‘A' game while his health suffers, his marriage suffers and most importantly his son suffers. The businessman sleeping around behind his wife is far past cliché at this point (as the film manages to comment on rigorously) but it would have been refreshing to see a reason for his amplified neglect of the family for something ‘stimulating' elsewhere, especially when someone in the league of Giamatti is playing the part. After all, you don't put on a tuxedo to wash the kitchen floor. 

The costumes were incredibly well thought out as Mrs. X looked pristine and Nan looked like she was in perpetual disarray. A few times the film tips its hat to the other film about a Nanny known simply as Mary Poppins. Overall, I must admit to enjoying The Nanny Diaries as it did take an easily formatted story and turned it into a more analytical piece about urban anthropology, not to mention the performances elevated the film considerably.