Rating: 2 Pulses
Starring Scarlett Johansson, Laura Linney, Paul Giamatti
Directed by Shari Springer Berman and Robert Pulcini
Rated PG-13
In my teen years, a movie produced by Harvey and Bob Weinstein meant something. It meant you’d be seeing something outside the Hollywood meat market?something as revolutionary as Pulp Fiction or as inventive as Clerks.
After the Weinsteins parted with Miramax studio, they set up the Weinstein Company. Unfortunately, they are now producing the same crass commercialism they once defied.
The Nanny Diaries is an ideal paradigm of their dilution. Their latest venture features the inspired directing team of Shari Springer Bergman and Robert Pulcini, a queen of art-house cinema in Scarlett Johansson, and edgy source material.
Ten years ago, this project would have been cutting-edge satire. But today, The Nanny Diaries is just a toothless and painfully dull retread of last year’s The Devil Wears Prada.
Johansson plays Annie, an ambivalent college graduate looking for a way out of the corporate world. Her heart lies in anthropology, so she takes a nanny job to fund a return to college. She lands with a preening socialite (Linney), her philandering husband (Giamatti) and their son, Grayer, in their penthouse. She’s warm and poor, they’re cold and rich, and the rest of the story revolves around the timeless cornball lessons they learn from each other.
Much of The Nanny Diaries’ success relies on Johansson. Unfortunately, her strengths are muted by this role. Her turns in The Man Who Wasn’t There, Lost in Translation and Match Point accentuated both her maturity and sexuality. The vacillating and homely nature of Annie robs Johansson of both.
Directors Bergman and Pulcini demonstrated in their 2003 gem American Splendor they can deftly merge fantasy and reality, and there are fleeting moments of that coalescence here. Desperate to be reprieved from my boredom, I was even willing to forgive the heavy overtures to Mary Poppins. But, when Annie becomes shackled with a bland love interest (Evans), all my goodwill disintegrated.
If Annie wants to be an anthropologist, I suggest she do a case study on the Weinsteins. An investigation into how two mavericks lost their way would surely be more stimulating than this drivel.
