Nanny Diaries, The
Scarlett Johansson takes a job for Laura Linney's Fifth Avenue rich bitch in this comedy-drama, co-directed by the team behind American Splendor
Adapted by the husband-and-wife team who were Oscar-nominated for the inventive American Splendor, The Nanny Diaries treads very similar territory to The Devil Wears Prada. Both are set in New York and based on books that concern the experiences of ordinary young women trying to find their way in the world amid the grotesqueries of wealthy Manhattan. In The Nanny Diaries, the young woman in question is Annie Braddock (Scarlett Johansson), the daughter of a hard-working New Jersey blue collar single mum, Judy (Murphy). Annie has just completed an anthropology degree and Judy is keen for her to embark on a power-suited corporate business career. Annie is not convinced, flunking her first interview when faced with the question "Who is Annie Braddock?" Musing in the park subsequently, fate plays its hand: Annie saves a young boy from being run-over by a guy on one of those Segway scooters. The boy is Grayer X (Art), and his mother Mrs X (Linney), a wealthy "Fifth Avenue mom", assumes Annie is a nanny and attempts to employ her there and then. As Annie is in need of a job, and keen to move out of mother's place and into the city, she ends up taking the position and finding herself in the weird and wonderful world of "the tribe of the Upper East Side". Although The Nanny Diaries isn't half as innovative or funny as American Splendor, the filmmakers use some fun devices. Over the opening credits, we see museum dioramas of worldwide parenting scenes, with Annie's narration segueing from anthropological analysis of the tribal scenes to talking about the new world in which she finds herself. "Befriending Grayer wasn't easy," she says. "But then again, Margaret Meade didn't run away every time she got malaria". The world Annie enters is utterly alien to her. Mrs X and her cohorts talk about being "supermom" and "raising a child", but they are almost entirely uninvolved - delegating everything, from the practicalities like feeding the kids to the very matter of being emotionally attached. Kids like Grayer develop an intense bond with their nannies. Even worse, Mr X (Giamatti) is barely present - he fleetingly appears to hug Grayer before disappearing off again to work on mergers or conduct affairs. Mrs X keeps herself busy shopping, having meetings and fleeing to the spa. The film presents a caricature of a certain Manhattan class, but the reality isn't far away. Annie spends most of her time graciously accepting the monstrousness of her circumstances. She meets a good-looking boy from the same building, dubbing him "Harvard Hottie" (Evans). He sends her some roses, but the pathologically uptight Mrs X tells Annie, "Well, you know how Grayer is around pollen, so I'm going to have to throw them out." After the film has bumbled along with its odd blend of amiability and casual vitriol, Annie has her epiphany. Surreal flourishes like a sweet if cheesy Mary Poppins moment give the film some distinction, but for the most part it's mild-mannered. Which is all well and good for making an easily digestible 100 minutes of light entertainment, but disappointing considering both the satirical potential here, and Springer Berman and Pulcini's edgier earlier work. Verdict A straightforward and mostly forgettable coming-of-age drama. |
