The Phoenix Network:
 
 
About  |  Advertise
Adult  |  Moonsigns  |  Band Guide  |  Blogs  |  In Pictures
 
Features  |  Reviews
FIND MOVIES
Find a Movie
Movie List
Loading ...
or
Find Theaters and Movie Times
or
Search Movies

The Nanny Diaries

A shrill disappointment
By PETER KEOUGH  |  August 22, 2007
1.0 1.0 Stars


VIDEO: Watch the trailer for The Nanny Diaries.


The rich may be different from you and me, but they’re probably not much like the grotesque stereotypes in Shari Springer Berman & Robert Pulcini’s adaptation of this glib bestseller. They’ve reduced it to the shrillest formula. Annie (Scarlett Johansson), a working-class college grad from New Jersey, becomes the punching-bag enabler for “Mrs. X” (Laura Linney), a “Fifth Avenue mother,” filthy rich, idle, neurotic, and far too busy to spend time with her charmless and spoiled four-year-old. Annie not only submits to the boy’s every whim but gamely serves as an outlet for Mrs. X’s fury at the boorish infidelities of Mr. X (Paul Giamatti as a troll). Surely, an hour and a half of such torture must end with a confrontational speech to a teddy bear, the deification of motherhood, and the vindication of PB&Js as better than coquilles Saint-Jacques? Phony from start to finish, and a shocking disappointment from the makers of American Splendor.
Related: Yankee know-how, Buddy Cianci, Fred Claus, More more >
  Topics: Reviews , Celebrity News, Entertainment, Media,  More more >
  • Share:
  • Share this entry with Facebook
  • Share this entry with Digg
  • Share this entry with Delicious
  • RSS feed
  • Email this article to a friend
  • Print this article
Comments

Today's Event Picks
ARTICLES BY PETER KEOUGH
Share this entry with Delicious
  •   REVIEW: UP IN THE AIR  |  December 02, 2009
    No director pulls off the bait-and-switch as craftily as Jason Reitman. He gets you thinking that you're watching a hip, caustic comedy subverting the status quo, but by the end, he's vindicated all the platitudes he seemed to scorn.
  •   REVIEW: Z (1969)  |  December 01, 2009
    John F. Kennedy wasn't the only political leader murdered in 1963. On May 22 of that year, Gregoris Lambrakis, a left-leaning, pacifist member of the Greek parliament and an aspiring presidential candidate seeking to replace the reigning right-wing government, was assaulted after a peace rally in Thessaloniki. He died five days later.
  •   REVIEW: JULIA  |  December 02, 2009
    When the once-æthereal muse of the late Derek Jarman wiped sweat from her armpits in Michael Clayton , a new persona was born.
  •   REVIEW: THE STRIP  |  December 02, 2009
    In lieu of Steve Carell’s hopelessly inept and earnest manager, we have his creepier duplicate, Glenn. Instead of the boorish brown-noser played by Rainn Wilson, there’s the more obnoxious Rick.
  •   REVIEW: BAD LIEUTENANT: PORT OF CALL NEW ORLEANS  |  November 24, 2009
    Nicolas Cage is at his best in Bad Lieutenant

 See all articles by: PETER KEOUGH

MOST POPULAR
RSS Feed of for the most popular articles
 Most Viewed   Most Emailed 



  |  Sign In  |  Register
 
thePhoenix.com:
Phoenix Media/Communications Group:
TODAY'S FEATURED ADVERTISERS
Copyright © 2009 The Phoenix Media/Communications Group