The Nanny Diaries

The movie version of the chick-lit best-seller The Nanny Diaries 'œshould have been a snappy, catty diversion on the order of The Devil Wears Prada,' said Dana Stevens in Slate.com. Instead, the husband-and-wife directing team of Shari Springer Berman and Robert Pulcini has sucked all the fun out of the original roman à clef. Scarlett Johansson plays Annie, an anthropology grad who gets a job baby-sitting a Manhattan brat named Grayer (Nicholas Reese Art). Grayer's mom (Laura Linney), known only as Mrs. X, is a stereotypical rich Upper East Sider: She's obsessed with her looks and status, and spends her time shopping instead of mothering. The film attempts to be clever, by imagining Mr. and Mrs. X as anthropological specimens for Annie's study, said Mick LaSalle in the San Francisco Chronicle.

But the conceit never pans out. 'œThe moment-to-moment experience of The Nanny Diaries has less to do with anthropological details and more to do with plot elements of marginal concern.' This cast and creative team are capable of much better, said Claudia Puig in USA Today. The previous film from Berman and Pulcini was American Splendor, one of the best movies of 2005, making this 'œmildly comic but paper thin' film much more of a letdown.

Rating: PG-13

The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up