Quartile rating: 6.5/10 · 1 rating
A college graduate goes to work as a nanny for a rich New York family. Ensconced in their home, she has to juggle their dysfunction, a new romance, and the spoiled brat in her charge.
The Nanny Diaries is a passable but unremarkable comedy-drama that follows a fairly predictable fish-out-of-water template. The plot lacks depth despite attempting social satire of Manhattan elite culture, feeling surface-level and formulaic. Scarlett Johansson and Laura Linney deliver competent performances—Linney in particular elevates the material—but the characters are thinly drawn. The cinematography is functional without distinction. The film's satirical angle on upper-class New York gives it a slight edge in novelty but doesn't break new ground meaningfully. The ending resolves things adequately without being especially memorable.