| Overall Grade: |
A- |
|
| Story: |
A- |
|
|
| Acting: |
A |
|
|
| Direction: |
B+ |
|
|
| Visuals: |
A |
|
|
Cute and touching
by raysfan (movies profile)
Nov 2, 2007
16
of
17 people found this review helpful
I just read a critic review that complained about the one-dimensionality of the portrayal of the upper class in this movie, and I couldn't disagree more. While Mr. X was portrayed this way, it was only because he wasn't around enough for us to see otherwise (which, unfortunately, is sometimes the case in real homes.) Mrs. X, however, was truly multi-dimensional. At times, I hated her for the way she treated others, her seemingly perfect life, and her complete denial of all her problems. But at other times, I felt extremely sorry for her, and so does Annie. Her husband is never around, he is cheating on her, and her son prefers Annie to her. Laura Linney played the part very convincingly, and you could just see the pain in her eyes when Grayer chose Annie over her when he was afraid. And, while the end of the movie stretched the bounds of realism a bit, it showed a complete transformation in her character that was clearly there, though somewhat hidden, the whole time.
The same reviewer also complained about Annie in comparison to the other nannies and how she never realized that she didn't have to do that job if she didn't want to. Again, I completely disagree. That was shown quite clearly in the scene where she talked to the other nannies about how "the job chose her". But she couldn't just quit, not because she needed the money or because she still loved the idea of the job, but because she felt for Mrs. X and Grayer. She was all Grayer had, and she thought she needed to be there for the mother who was not, as the reviewer suggested, merely one-dimensional.
The story in this movie was good, and I thought that the several plot lines merged together well into the overall theme. The acting was good--I've already mentioned Linney, Scarlett Johansson was good, as always, and Nicholas Art (who played Grayer) was unbelievable (and adorable!) It was a cute movie with a very sad theme and a satisfying conclusion.
My one complaint about the movie is the few swear words they had Annie use. They were really quite unnecessary, and if they hadn't been there, the movie could easily had been rated PG and been more available to younger children, who I think would like it too. |
My Public Profile 
