Movie Review The Exorcism of Emily Rose

The Exorcism of Emily Rose (2005)

Directed by Scott Derrickson 

Written by Scott Derrickson, Paul Harris Boardman 

Starring Laura Linney, Tom Wilkinson, Campbell Scott, Colm Feore, Jennifer Carpenter

Release Date September 9th, 2005 

Published September 10th, 2005

The saying 'based on a true story' is an oft abused term in Hollywood. Case in point the new horror film/courtroom drama The Exorcism Of Emily Rose. The film is based on a true story however the story told in the film is not the true story. The film's creators, however, include a title card that claims the story is true. But the story told in the movie only vaguely resembles the true story that was its inspiration. Make sense?

Not much of this cross breed of TV's "Law & Order '' and the horror classic The Exorcist makes sense anyway so it's fitting that its origins should be so muddled. A shame though because with such a terrific cast The Exorcism of Emily Rose had the potential to be very good.

Oscar nominee Tom Wilkinson stars in Exorcism as Father Thomas Moore. Father Moore is on trial for the negligent homicide of a nineteen year old college student Emily Rose (Jennifer Carpenter), one of his parishioners. The story of how Emily came to be in Father Moore's care is part of an elaborate series of events that leads to one extraordinary trial.

Laura Linney is Erin Bruner, Father Moore's lawyer. An agnostic, Erin is on the lookout for a promotion at her big money law firm and takes on Father Moore's case with the hopes of a partnership. Erin is coming off another high profile case where she got a guy everyone thought was guilty off on a charge of murder. Now struggling with her conscience she finds herself defending Father Moore from charges that he allowed Emily Rose to die while he was in charge of her well being.

So how did Emily Rose die? There are two competing theories in the film. The first and most logical and rational is that Emily developed epilepsy that led to psychosis that caused her to have nightmarish visions and episodes of extreme behavior that included self-mutilation and violence towards her family and friends. Emily stopped eating and eventually starved to death.

However, according to Father Moore, Emily was not sick. Rather Emily was suffering from demonic possession. Satan and various other demons entered Emily's body, fought off the Father's attempt to exercise them and prevented Emily from eating. Campbell Scott plays the prosecuting attorney, Ethan Thomas who quickly makes a farce of the defense's case with simple logical questions and scientific medical testimony.

The trial aspect of Emily Rose is the film's biggest problem. The script saddles the beleaguered Laura Linney with a defense that is so patently ridiculous that she never had a chance of winning any audience member with an ounce of critical thinking ability. I don't want to give away what the defense is, one of the joys of the film is the derisive laugh one has at the expense of the poor lawyer who might think it could work. I will say that it would not have lasted two minutes on an episode of "Perry Mason" or even the light headed "L.A Law".

Campbell Scott as the prosecutor is terrific at presenting his side not merely with a dismissive cast of his eyes skyward while the defense presents its case, though that might have been all it would take to win over the audience. No, Scott also brings eloquence and cold hard reason to the role and looks very much like a real prosecutor. There is a moment during one of the defense witness testimonies where the prosecutor objects to a question and when asked what his objection is he replies "Oh I don't know, silliness", as if he were speaking for the audience.

For her part Laura Linney, one of my all time favorite actresses, can do very little with a role so poorly conceived. Given the defense as it is written in the script has absolutely no hope of convincing anyone and Linney is left to present it with as much dignity as possible and in that respect she made it work. She never allows herself to look as foolish as the script might make her seem.

The script is written by Paul Harris Boardman and director Scott Derrickson and is fascinating for how inept the courtroom scenes are and for how effective the flashbacks to the exorcism are. In the execution of the horror part of the film, Derrickson's direction is very strong as are the characters of Father Moore and Emily.

It's like watching two different movies at once.

The flashbacks to Emily in college where her strange visions and behavior begins are surprisingly strong. Never merely imitating The Exorcist, Director Scott Derrickson shows a great flair and style and brings some old school scares to this otherwise dreary flick. A scene late in the film set inside a barn in a heavy rainstorm is very effective in building tension, and is followed by another effective scene, a dream sequence, in which Emily is visited by the Virgin Mary.

Scenes of faces melting into demonic menace, black cloaked demons and  blood dripping walls are all used to very cool effect and show that Derrickson knows how to direct a good horror movie. But when the scene shifts to the courtroom the film becomes laughable. The worst part is that there were many feasible opportunities to fix this aspect of the film with some simple courtroom logic. Any first year law student could have made a very strong case in Father Moore's favor. Instead the script opts for a defense that no one in their right mind would buy.

The courtroom drama is farce as are the non-flashback scenes outside the court as when Father Moore advises Erin to 'beware of the dark forces surrounding the case'.  Oooh scary. There is also a supremely lame bit where Erin, like Emily and like Father Moore, continuously wakes up at 3:00 AM. This same clock bit was lame when it was used in the remake of Amityville Horror this past spring and in the Bob De Niro flick Hide and Seek back in January.

The film is based on a true story. In Germany in the late sixties a teenage girl became violently, mentally ill. Rather than treat her medically, which would have meant commitment to a mental hospital, the girl's family turned her over to the church which received permission from the Vatican to perform an exorcism. The girl died from starvation and the priests involved and the girl's parents were all tried for manslaughter.

That is a great basis for drama and horror and a logical examination of faith and the limits of science, something I'm sure The Exorcism Of Emily Rose was striving to convey. However, in executing this idea something was lost in the translation. We have half of a good movie and half of a ludicrous episode of Ally McBeal, only with fewer intentional laughs.

Movie Review Hyde Park on the Hudson

Hyde Park on the Hudson (2012) 

Directed by Roger Mitchell 

Written by Richard Nelson

Starring Bill Murray, Laura Linney 

Release Date August 31st, 2012 

Published November 10th, 2012 

"Hyde Park on Hudson" is a strange movie. On the surface, it appears to be a prim and proper period piece centered on an American President. In reality, it is a trim and tawdry, Jerry Springer-esque expose on the secret affair between a President and his cousin. Jerry Springer-esque is a slight overstatement though this version of FDR and his sordid private life would make a fitting guest for a trashy talk show.

There is no arguing with the notion that President Franklin Delano Roosevelt cheated on his wife Eleanor with many different women. There is also no denying that a good movie can be made about one or all of these affairs. The problem is "Hyde Park on Hudson" picks the absolute worst instance of this adultery to focus on. It's about the time that FDR got a handjob from his cousin and pursued sleeping with her. UGHHH!!!! 

Uncomfortable and Icky

Laura Linney is the ostensible star of "Hyde Park on Hudson" as President FDR's fifth cousin Daisy (If you think her being a fifth cousin is an excuse, re-evaluate your life and don't spend time with your extended family, eww). When the President, played by Bill Murray, is at his home away from home, known as Hyde Park on Hudson, he finds distraction and comfort in the company of Daisy with whom he can, for a moment, forget the problems of the free world and simply be Franklin.

That sounds lovely until 'that scene' happens. Our illusions about the stately, period picture decorum of "Hyde Park on Hudson" are shattered early on in Daisy and FDR's first outing together. Having driven out to the middle of a field and dismissed the secret service, FDR slowly encourages Daisy into a... sexual encounter. She... gives the President a handy. I already mentioned that but it calls for repeating, the President encouraged his cousin into giving him a handjob and someone thought that should be in a movie starring Bill Murrary and Laura Linney. 

What a Waste

The film never recovers from this scene. even as the screenwriting attempts to make excuses about the distance between Daisy and FDR on the family tree. Every scene after Daisy and FDR's indelicate encounter in the field is a forced attempt at classing things up. The film's supposed focus is the first ever visit of the British Royal Family to the home of an American President but we're never allowed the opportunity to invest in that plot because there is no recovering from the President getting tossed off by a member of his family. 

As I said earlier, there is a good movie to be made about the messy private life of an American President but this is not it. "Hyde Park on Hudson" is a shabby, tawdry, and still somehow, often quite dull picture that wastes the talents of two of my favorite performers, Bill Murray and Laura Linney. It says something terrible about "Hyde Park on Hudson" that two so talented actors as Murray and Linney cannot improve the movie enough to make it palatable.

Movie Review: Breach

Breach (2007) 

Directed by Billy Ray

Written by Adam Mazer 

Starring Chris Cooper, Ryan Phillippe, Laura Linney, Dennis Haysbert, Caroline Dhavernas, Gary Cole

Release Date February 16th, 2007 

Published February 17th, 2007

Robert Hanssen was America's leading expert in Russian counter-intelligence. When communism fell it was because of guys like Hanssen whose fluency in how the Russians conducted intelligence and counterintelligence helped topple Moscow. So how does a man so proud and outwardly patriotic become the greatest traitor since Benedict Arnold? That is one of two stories that unfold in the new movie Breach from director Billy Ray the young auteur behind Shattered Glass.

When agent Eric O'Neill (Ryan Phillippe) was assigned to be the assistant to veteran agent Robert Hanssen (Chris Cooper) he was told that this could be his opportunity to earn his way into becoming a full fledged agent. It was not because Hanssen was a 30 plus year veteran whose experience would be a great learning experience for O'Neill. Rather, this was a test of the young agents spy mettle.

Eric was chosen to watch over Hanssen whom he is told is a sexual deviant and thus susceptible to blackmail by foreign agents. Choosing a more veteran agent to watch Hanssen would arouse suspicion, so it's up to the. Little did Eric know, there was far more to this new detail than just sexual deviancy. He has actually been dropped right into the middle of the biggest internal FBI scandal in history.

Breach directed by Bill Ray, the man behind the Stephen Glass expose Shattered Glass, is a brisk exciting drama that tells the story of Robert Hanssen with an icy, quicksilver pacing that never rushes but never pauses too long either. The spycraft is formal and by the book, made exciting by the hard work of the actors and the terrific staging.

Chris Cooper shows once again why he is the preeminent character actor in the business. His Robert Hanssen is a constipated family man who is constantly fed up with just about everything. Everyone around him is regarded as a fool and he does not suffer fools kindly. The explanation for his treachery may just be an overall frustration with the people around him. He wants the system to conform to his idea of efficiency and when it doesn't he decides to goose the system by subverting it.

Ryan Phillippe continues to choose smart roles. His career track started as that of a teen idol after 1999's Cruel Intentions. Thankfully, brooding, handsome type was not the career he wanted and while his choices, from the cool underappreciated Way of the Gun to Antitrust to Crash, have been spotty, he has been good even in his most off-kilter role.

In Breach Phillippe plays a naive worker bee very well and his character grows up quickly. Initially all confusion and ambition his Eric O'Neill toughens up quickly and is able to use his naivete as a perfect wedge against the always suspicious Hanssen.

Breach is a breathtaking, fast paced story, exceptionally well told by director Billy Ray. There is not an ounce of fat on this story, every detail, from Hanssen's religious convictions to O'Neill's relationship with his wife played by the wonderful Catherine Davernas, it all pays off in a way. The crisp, efficient storytelling is aided by exceptional performances by Phillippe and Cooper and an extraordinary group of supporting players.

Laura Linney, Gary Cole and Dennis Haysbert bring expert skill to the roles of Hanssen's investigators. Linney is especially good as the strong willed lead investigator Kate Burroughs who made the tough call to put the kid O'Neill in with the veteran Hanssen. Icy and workmanlike, Burroughs hard nosed investigation was going on for two years before she brought in O'Neill as a last ditch effort to catch Hanssen in the act.

The person in charge of capturing the suspected mole before Hanssen was identified? Hanssen himself, something Burroughs is very aware of.

Taut, invigorating storytelling, Breach is the kind of thriller that excites with dazzling intellectual storytelling. Director Billy Ray may not be much of a visual stylist but he more than makes up for it with his ear for smart dialogue and his instinct for telling his story in a compact, quick witted way. The pace of the storytelling never outdoing the development of the characters, Breach unfolds the greatest failure in American intelligence history in the most entertaining way imaginable.

Movie Review Man of the Year

Man of the Year (2006) 

Directed by Barry Levinson

Written by Barry Levinson

Starring Robin Williams, Christopher Walken, Laura Linney, Lewis Black, Jeff Goldblum, Amy Poehler

Release Date October 13th, 2006

Published October 20th, 2006

Robin Williams is not hip. He's funny, energetic and a legit star but he is not hip. That makes his role as a star political comic, ala the undeniably hip Jon Stewart, in the new movie Man of the Year more than a little ill fitting. Williams is quite funny in notching a number of smart and quite pointed political barbs but also a number of jokes that are a little past their sell by date.

Of course, if Williams' hit and miss jokes were the film's only problem with Man of the Year it would not be so bad. Unfortunately, director Barry Levinson throws in one terribly awkward subplot that takes Man of the Year from merely flawed to flailing.

Tom Dobbs (Williams) has a top rated cable show on which he talks about the issues of the day with edgy, politically incorrect humor. One night before the show an audience member gives Tom a crazy idea, why doesn't he run for president. Floating the idea on the show, Tom gets a huge response on the internet that leads to him declaring his candidacy and getting on the ballot in 13 states.

On the campaign trail with his showbiz manager Jack (Christopher Walken), and his head writer Eddie (Lewis Black), Tom's approach to the campaign is serious and joke-free. Tom desperately wants to be taken seriously as a candidate. That plan goes out the window when Tom gets into the presidential debate and begins riffing on the hot button issues of the day as acerbically as he might on his show.

His debate performance garnered a lot of attention but there is no way he could possibly win. Or is there? Somewhere out in the San Fernando Valley a computer company has earned the contract nationwide to provide electronic voting systems. The system has a serious bug in it that is discovered by Eleanor (Laura Linney), the company's lead programmer. On election night when Eleanor realizes the bug she found was not fixed; she decides she must blow the whistle, something the company will not allow to happen (cue ominous music).

The computer company subplot is a thriller element that this film absolutely botches. After launching an interesting concept, a comedian elected president, director Barry Levinson gets distracted by the details of how such a thing could happen. Tossing together this computer voting/thriller plot, Levinson gives us a plausible reason as to how a comedian could get elected president but misses the more interesting plot, how would a comedian run the country.

Watching Man of the Year I kept hoping that Levinson would cut through the thriller plot and show more of Tom Dobbs comedian figuring out how to be the most powerful man in the world. His thoughts on this rather momentous occasion beyond the jokes might be some place to start. But Levinson, I gather, just didn't believe audiences would buy Tom getting elected without some chicanery.

It's a fair bet that many people might not buy the premise without the computers, but that really isn't the point. We are at a place right now where most of the country is in the center and the rest are divided to extremes and make most of the noise. The idea that the center might rally to a centrist candidate, say a charismatic comedian, is an interesting and timely idea. Man of the Year has that idea but tosses it in favor of a dull thriller plot.

In early 2002 Robin Williams did a standup special on HBO that absolutely killed. His comedic skills having been tarnished by a few years worth of really bad movies, Patch Adams-Jack-Bicentennial Man, he bounced back with a tremendously funny concert set. That concert, in which Williams mixed his wildman schtick with some very smart and pointed humor, is the template for the character of Tom Dobbs, wildly energetic and very smart.

Part of the genius of Robin Williams in that HBO special and here in Man of the Year is the risks he takes with his humor. Always on the edge between funny and cringe inducing, Williams rides that razors edge in Man of the Year by recycling Clinton era humor that makes you snore while making timely references to the middle east quagmire, gay marriage and racism. When he's on, Williams rivals Jon Stewart and Bill Maher in irreverence and smarts, when he's off however he's Carrot Top crossed with Richard Jeni.

Thankfully, Williams is on far more than he's off in Man of the Year. It's just a shame he doesn't get more time to be on or off. Williams is forced off screen far too often in Man of the Year to make room for the thriller plot. I love Laura Linney but there is nothing that even someone of her tremendous talent can do with this ill-fated material. The way that Barry Levinson brings her and Williams together in the film, marrying the thriller and comedy plot in a romantic subplot, is almost less believable than the crappy thriller plot.

Robin Williams hasn't been this good in awhile. It's a shame that his efforts are often squandered in a film that just can't commit to a good premise. Politicians need courage of convictions, at least the few good ones do, and the Man of the Year too needed a little courage. The courage to craft a comic idea that is timely and relevant. Unfortunately, Barry Levinson lacks that courage and instead falls back on plot mechanics and thriller beats that interrupt what might otherwise be a pretty good political farce.

What a shame.

Movie Review The Mothman Prophecies

The Mothman Prophecies (2002) 

Directed by Mark Pellington 

Written by Richard Hatem 

Starring Richard Gere, Laura Linney, Will Patton, Debra Messing 

Release Date January 25th, 2002 

Published January 25th, 2002 

The words "based on a true story" have a way of stirring up controversy in Hollywood. Case in point A Beautiful Mind, where a few seemingly minor factual omissions have fueled all sorts of critical rants. Now comes The Mothman Prophecies based on the 1975 book of the same title by John Keel who investigated paranormal activity in the small town of Point Place, West Virginia in 1966.

The paranormal activities were said to be the multiple unrelated sightings of moth-like creatures including one by the author himself. Thus the "based on a true story" credit at the beginning of the film has elicited skepticism and even laughter from some reviewers, myself not included. Not that I believe in these supposed moth-like creatures, I just found the film itself to be so entertaining I don't care if it's true or not.

Richard Gere stars as Washington Times reporter John Klein who, with his wife Mary (Debra Messing), is involved in a car crash which both survive but leads to the discovery of Mary's brain tumor. The tumor is terminal and soon enough Mary passes away, but not before she draws pictures of the moth-like creatures which she claims caused the accident. Months later while driving to an assignment, Klein gets lost and winds up in Point Place, West Virginia where under very strange circumstances he is accused of stalking a local man named Gordon (Will Patton). Klein is released after meeting with the sheriff Connie Parker (Laura Linney) who explains that Gordon has been acting strange since experiencing strange visions that Klein finds are quite similar to those described by his wife. Gordon isn't the only person in town to have these visions and Klein decides to stick around to investigate.

The story is somewhat superfluous, but the first rate cast improves it greatly. Gere is especially good using his trademark stoicism to great effect as his character begins to meltdown. Laura Linney shows herself to be the heir apparent to Meryl Streep in the versatility department, and Will Patton continues to show himself to be the "go-to" character guy who can play anything and make it believable.

Let us not forget director Mark Pellington, whose supreme pacing and great eye for exciting visuals keeps the film moving at an entertaining clip that keeps the audience off balance all the way through. True story or not,The Mothman Prophecies is an entertaining story and that is what counts.

Movie Review The Life of David Gale

The Life of David Gale (2003) 

Directed by Alan Parker 

Written by Charles Randolph 

Starring Kevin Spacey, Kate Winslet, Laura Linney, Gabriel Mann 

Release Date February 21st, 2003 

Published February 20th, 2003 

It seems that in all of my reviews of Kevin Spacey's movies I end up asking, “What has happened to Kevin Spacey?”

I always begin by recalling how brilliant he was in Seven, The Usual Suspects and his star making turn in American Beauty. It is because I WAS such a big fan of Spacey that I long to remember why I was a fan. Spacey's last four films have done a lot to make me forget how great Spacey once was. The Shipping News, K-Pax, Pay It Forward, and Ordinary Decent Criminal are all terrible films that don't meet the standards of Spacey's previous work and are really not even in the ballpark with his best performances.

I still believe Spacey can turn it around with one great role. His last four films and his previous brilliant works represent two extremes which leads us to our point, to which extreme does his new film The Life Of David Gale go? Well with early Oscar buzz quickly shifting to a scramble by producers to get it out of the way of the competitive December market, the buzz wasn't good. Sadly, the film lives up to the bad buzz.

As the title character, Professor David Gale, Spacey is the head of the philosophy department at a Texas college and the lead spokesman for Deathwatch, an anti-death penalty lobbying group. However, when we first meet Professor he is behind bars and awaiting a lethal injection on Texas's death row. David Gale was convicted of the murder of a fellow death penalty activist, Constance Halloway (Laura Linney). Her nude and battered body was found on her kitchen floor with a bag over her head and her hands handcuffed behind her back. Every piece of evidence points at Professor Gale, his fingerprints were found on the bag and his semen was found in the victim.

Gale still maintains his innocence and agrees to an interview with a New York journalist just four days before his execution. The journalist is Bitsey Bloom (Kate Winslet) and it's unclear why Gale chose her. She has never written about the death penalty and has only a vague knowledge of his case, which has made national headlines simply based on the irony of a death penalty activist on death row. In fact, it is that very irony that fuels Gale's paranoid defense that a conspiracy has landed him on death row. 

In flashback, Gale details his relationship with Constance, which he claims was that of good friends and nothing more. Gale talks about his wife leaving him and taking his son to live in Spain. He openly discusses his drinking problem and finally the affair that sent his life into a tailspin. After a student offers to do anything to raise her grade, the good professor tells the student to study harder. That student is expelled for her bad grades. After that same student shows up at a party Gale attended, Gale is seduced and later accused of rape. The former student's revenge on Professor Gale is to accuse him of rape, she soon after dropped the charges but the stigma of the charges cost Gale his job. As Gale is explaining his story to Bitsey, a mystery is unfolding involving a shady cowboy (Matt Craven) and a videotape that may prove Gale's innocence.

To tell you anymore would spoil the film’s supposedly shocking twists. Director Allan Parker's ham handed direction tips off the twists well ahead of time but you should be disgusted by this film’s lunkheadedness on your own. The film is supposed to be a message picture about how horrible the death penalty is but the film hammers it's message home in such a way that the audience couldn't care less if Gale gets the needle or not. 

Surrounding the anti death penalty screed, is a mystery plot so convoluted as to murder credibility. The film’s mystery relies on the journalist being such a dope that her magazine would actually pay a half million dollars to get the interview with Gale, when he should be begging for interviews to prove his innocence instead of charging exorbitant amounts of money. The Life of David Gale flies in the face of credibility and saddles it's wonderful stars with a plot so heavy handed and ridiculous that they really had no chance of recovering.

So there is a ray of hope for Spacey fans. At least this one wasn't entirely his fault.

Movie Review: The Savages

The Savages (2007) 

Directed by Tamara Jenkins

Written by Tamara Jenkins 

Starring Phillip Seymour Hoffman, Laura Linney, Phillip Bosco 

Release Date November 28th, 2007

Published January 31st 2008 

Brother and Siste, John (Phillip Seymour Hoffman) and Wendy (Laura Linney) Savage, haven't heard from their father in more than 20 years. That isn't such a bad thing, he wasn't a very good father anyway. Now, as he drifts off into dementia, he is thrust back into their lives. Having lived with a woman in Arizona for years when she passes away, dad is now their problem whether they like it or not. Placing dad in a nursing home not far from John's Buffalo new York home, John seems content to wait for dad's last days. Wendy on the other hand is a mess of concern who fusses and worries and searches for a home that will dress up dad's last days with a nice view and some fresh air.

Directed by Tamara Jenkins, inconspicuous since her hip debut flick Slums of Beverly Hills nearly a decade ago, The Savages plays realistically with a sad situation. So real that you may want to prepare yourselves with a bottle of anti-depressants or at least a bowl of ice cream. The sad story is compounded by Jenkins' script which offers these characters nothing beyond grief and sadness. Aside from moments of dark humor that are more apparent to us than to them, John and Wendy live lives of perpetual depression and disappointment.

Essentially, both characters begin the movie miserable. They become progressively more miserable during the story, and then, finally, end up back where they started but with a vague hint of possible good fortune tacked on to the end. The oppressive sadness of The Savages is its defining characteristic, even beyond the strong lead performances of Hoffman and Linney, Linney even having been Oscar nominated for this role. Not every movie has to be entertaining or leave the audience with hope or inspiration. Life doesn't always put a perfect little bow on things and it can be welcome when a movie so readily acknowledges that not everything is perfect. That said, The Savages is not itself, a welcome respite from the sunny aspiration of so many other family dramas, The Savages rather, is simply too sad. It is too oppressive, too unpleasant even for the sad subject at its center.

I was taken back to my feelings about Paul Greengrass's exceptional 9/11 movie United 93. Everything about that film, from an artistic standpoint, was phenomenal and yet I couldn't find one reason to recommend people go see it. Why anyone would want to live those moments again, no matter how skillfully rendered, was simply beyond me. I feel the same way about The Savages. Even with the skilled performances of Hoffman and Linney and director Tamara Jenkins' well demonstrated skills, I can't see one reason why anyone would want the depressing experience of The Savages.

I would love to tell you that you could marvel at Laura Linney's remarkable range or Phillip Seymour Hoffman's uncanny ability for communicating soul deep sadness, but as remarkably realistic as these performances are, the result is so sad, heartbreaking, and relentless that there is simply no way I can recommend it. The Savages is a rare movie that is too good for its own good. It's so well acted and well crafted that it leaves you deeply, woefully sad in a deeply unpleasant fashion that proves to be too much for any general audience movie. 

Movie Review: The Nanny Diaries

The Nanny Diaries (2007) 

Directed by Shari Springer Berman, Robert Pulcini 

Written by Robert Pulcini, Shari Springer Berman 

Starring Scarlett Johansson, Laura Linney, Alicia Keys, Chris Evans, Paul Giamatti 

Release Date August 24th, 2007

Published August 23rd, 2007  

In an interview with the New York Times, directors Robert Pulcini and Sherry Springer Berman, the husband and wife team behind American Splendor, told a reporter that they really wanted to direct a mainstream Hollywood feature. Immediately, after reading that, I knew the movie was doomed. Trying to make a mainstream Hollywood movie is to fail at making a mainstream Hollywood movie. Immediately you link yourself to an almost untenable template of cliches and perfunctory scenes. Throw in a dull romantic subplot and you get the supremely disappointing The Nanny Diaries.

Adapted from the terrifically catty bestseller by Emma McLaughlin and Nicola Kraus, two real life, former New York Nannies, The Nanny Diaries stars Scarlett Johannson as Annie. An aimless college grad, Annie longs to get into anthropology. For now she is content to get out of her mom's house. When Annie meets 4 year old Grayer (Nicholas Art) she saves him from a collision with a careless jogger and is immediately offered the opportunity to become his nanny, though she has no child care experience whatsoever.

Sensing an interesting anthropological opportunity to observe the customs and mores of upper east side New Yorkers, Annie accepts the job and finds herself in an ugly world of consumption and child neglect. Grayer's parents, who Annie refers to as Mr. & Mrs. X (Paul Giamatti and Laura Linney), treat their son as an inconvenience, as a pawn, and as a status symbol.

Grayer's plight forces Annie to commit beyond her anthropological interests and try and find ways to protect the poor kid from his awful parents. Tacked onto this plot is a romance between Annie and a guy she calls Harvard Hottie (Chris Evans), a nickname she uses to keep him at a distance, a tactic that fails miserably after just one date.

What is lacking in The Nanny Diaries is the kind of catty insights and snarky wit of the book by Emma McLaughlin and Nicola Kraus. The film adaptation is a spineless version of the book that tries to go for heart strings instead of the funny bone and misses both quite badly. In their attempt to make a mainstream Hollywood comedy, directors Sherry Springer Berman and Robert Pulcini dull their sharp edges to appeal to a broader audience.

Someone should have told them that you can't please everyone no matter how bland and inoffensive you might be. Bland and inoffensive is certainly a good description of The Nanny Diaries which, though the parents played by Laura Linney and Paul Giamatti are truly awful people, the film refuses to judge them too harshly. Linney is almost sympathetic in her sadness, while Giamatti is off-screen too often for us to judge him much at all. Mr. X is a surface bastard with seemingly no motivation for his bad behavior.

The one element of The Nanny Diaries that works is Scarlett Johannson who plays the role that is given to her to the best of her abilities. Though hampered by a role that should be a little smarter, funnier and more biting and insightful, Johannson is, at the very least, charismatic and that goes a long way to improving an otherwise dismal movie. It's a shame that Johannson's romance with Chris Evans' Harvard Hottie never really sparks. The romantic subplot exists only to break the monotony of the dreary family plot and for that we are thankful. Unfortunately, the distractions are brief and Johansson and Evans never find that elusive romantic connection.

The Nanny Diaries lacks the spine to really tear into these awful parents and instead is understanding to a ludicrous extent. The actions of these parents is akin to emotional abuse and yet by the end we are to believe that young Grayer has hopes for a bright happy future without his nanny for protection. The film needed to be edgier, more judgmental, with the kind of catty insider perspective that made the book a beach read phenomenon.

Spineless and forgettable, The Nanny Diaries is a real disappointment. When independent directors like Sherry Springer Berman and Robert Pulcini move into the realm of the mainstream the hope is they won't bend to mainstream conventions but will bend convention to there artistic will. That doesn't happen in The Nanny Diaries and the result is a movie that tries to please all audiences and ends up pleasing few.