The Nanny Diaries

The Nanny Diaries is a wannabe Devil Wears Prada, but an utter waste of the talent involved. Scarlett Johansson plays an aimless college grad who meets cute with a little boy in New York’s Central Park, leading to her finding herself drafted into playing nanny to the precocious lad for a pair of posh parents. The trouble is, Daddy is the clichéd absente and Mommy is the equally clichéd neurotic mess. And the brat is intolerable. But as these things go, the Nanny finds something of value in the creature and decides to stay the course. As the mother, Laura Linney rises above the material and delivers with a nuanced character, but Johansson and a miscast Paul Giamatti (as the father) plow through determinedly to collect a paycheck. Overly sanitized and predictable (to the point of throwing in a needless romantic subplot), clumsy and loaded with stereotypes. This is not pleasant.