By rights, The Nanny Diaries should be a charmer of a romcom, starring as it does a trio of Hollywood heavyweights. Instead, it’s a shocking waste of talent.
Scarlett Johansson, Laura Linney and Paul Giamatti are impressively gathered, only to be cast as insipid stereotypes. Johansson is plain Jane New Jersey graduate Annie who, on a quest to find out who she really is (yawn), passes up a high- flying career to become nanny to a wealthy Manhattan family: cue Linney and Giamatti as catty, upper-class horror mum and philandering, workaholic hubbie.
All three struggle to imbue the characters with any life and look half asleep as they contend with joint directors and scriptwriters Shari Springer Berman and Robert Pulcini’s bland adaptation of the original book (by two real Manhattan nannies).
Annie’s experience does throw up some laughs but, when she discovers the ‘real Annie’ and it’s the same dreary character as before, the faint giggles turn to sobs of frustration.
Extras:Deleted scenes, making-of, interview with the book’s authors.
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