contrived ‘diaries’ an amusing trifle
Johansson Descends Into New York Nanny Hell
The Nanny Diaries
(PG-13; 105 minutes)
Did you know that rich New Yorkers can be totally self-centered snobs? Ridiculously trendy idiots who ignore their children and treat household servants like, well, servants?
No? Then you’ll find “The Nanny Diaries” to be a revelation.
If on the other hand, you already suspected that Manhattan’s Upper East Side is populated by snooty twits, then this not-so-fierce satire will come off as an amusing trifle with one magnificently over-the-top performance.
No, it’s not by Scarlett Johansson. The sensuous beauty seems slightly miscast as a timid Jersey girl who comes to the big city seeking a position worthy of her freshly minted college degree. She winds up stuck in a nanny job because … well, she’s desperate, passive and not very confident.
But at least this puts us in the home of the film’s walk-off star. Laura Linney is terrifically exaggerated as the incredibly thoughtless, rude, self-indulgent clod who hires the young woman and immediately starts treating her like dirt.
This chilly boss has a son who’s starved for attention, a husband (Paul Giamatti, looking silly as a pompous, adulterous exec) who ignores them both and a social schedule that seems to take up all day, every day. Linney steals this show with her hysterics, her rationalizations and her generally deranged manner.
But the rest of this extended sketch is too contrived to cherish. Heartthrob Chris Evans plays the “unattainable” dreamboat (the boss forbids her employee to date) and singer Alicia Keys shows serviceable chops in the traditional best-friend role.
Aside from a few well-aimed jokes, this mild-mannered modern fairy tale is mainly for hard-core Johansson fans. Hey, she always looks good, even when she’s trying to be frumpy.
We give it a C.
Tags: film, review
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