The Nanny Diaries Critic Reviews

The film belongs to Linney, whose caustic putdowns and status-seeking veneer barely hides her genuine hurt over her husband's philandering and her distant relationship to her own child. No doubt her diaries would be more compelling than the nanny's.Read the full review

The movie itself is sort of bland and obvious and comfortable.Read the full review

Weak dramatically, and that limits its overall effectiveness.Read the full review

The very rich are different from you and me. And much worse. That's basically the message of the disappointingly banal Nanny Diaries, a film that is even more lightweight and clichéd than the fluff that was the best-selling book.Read the full review

Watching the movie is a nonexperience--like the Upper East Side apartment where most of the action takes place, it's lavishly appointed but joyless.Read the full review

The movie's banal fantasies badly chafe any anthropological consideration of what a girl should do with her career. This isn't life. It's Lifetime.Read the full review

The social bite of the popular novel fades into a generic chick flick.Read the full review

The comedy has several inspired moments and a genuine flair for the satiric, but overall the film leaves you cold.Read the full review

Because The Nanny Diaries is essentially a two-character story whose supporting players are wooden props, it would help if the actors playing the two were evenly matched. But Ms. Johansson’s Annie, who narrates the movie in a glum, plodding voice, is a leaden screen presence, devoid of charm and humor.Read the full review