★ 8 / 10
Many tears to shed
MickyG333
7.9 stars.There is something particularly sweet about the story of a nanny, who grows fond of a father and his two children. That, being the only description…
7.9 stars.There is something particularly sweet about the story of a nanny, who grows fond of a father and his two children. That, being the only description of this film, you might think this is the standard narrative that you've seen 100 times. But you would be dead wrong. This nanny story is without a doubt much more enriching and better than most. At least it's one that I won't soon forget. There are a lot of endearing moments, many tears were shed. These children lost their mother three years ago in a car accident. The children have been harassing and tormenting all the nannies that the father has hired over the years, and she is going through the same hell. But this nanny is different. She understands what the children are experiencing, she gets it. The rest of the story is about how this sweet woman softens their hearts. The daughter is very bitter and is able to push the nanny beyond her limits. Would you expect any less from a 15-year-old? This is a must see for the whole family at least once every five years.
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★ 7 / 10
Pretty good nanny movie
herrcarter-92161
This movie was fairly entertaining. The story of a nanny coming in and succeeding with bratty kids where other nannies have failed is as old as Mary Poppins…
This movie was fairly entertaining. The story of a nanny coming in and succeeding with bratty kids where other nannies have failed is as old as Mary Poppins and The Sound of Music. But it's still a fun premise. Vanessa Marcil as Kate makes our sweet, goodhearted nanny come to life. Her performance is understated, but imbued with a lot of heart an emotion. She demonstrates this, not only with her young charges, but also in her relationship with her ailing father.
The developing relationship between Kate and the young boy Ben was great. Not much relationship between Kate and the daughter Emily, but she's so incorrigible, it's understandable. I do wish that the thaw in the relationship between Emily and Kate would have happened much earlier in the movie, and been more gradual. The relationship between Kate and the dad David was not that great, unfortunately. I never really felt much chemistry between them. That awkward kiss, where she actually says, "Are you making a move on me?" was pure cringe. The final "grand gesture" scene, where David shows up at Kate's class with flowers and his 2 kids in tow, was equally gag-worthy. Honestly, I've never liked Brennan Elliot that much as a leading man, even though he seems to be a Hallmark favorite. He always looks way too old for his leading lady, and even in this movie, where he was 33 and she was 40 when it was made, he still looked too old for her.
The one big flaw of this movie, which other reviewers have noted, is how bratty the kids were, particularly Emily, and how they are never disciplined by their father. How were they were allowed to terrorize a slew of nannies into quitting without any repercussions? And Emily's constant rude, snotty behavior, was way over-the-top. Every time she was on the screen, I wanted to slap her. I really wish the screenwriters hadn't made her quite so unlikable. I also wish that they had had Kate find a way to put her in her place, even if her father was unwilling to do so. Emily's grief over her mother's passing was no excuse for her constant disrespectful behavior. Kate shouldn't have let Emily walk all over her. Even if Emily didn't like Kate, she at least needed to learn to respect her. This narcissistic little witch was so horrible, she couldn't even find it in her heart to be nice to Kate after Kate's own father passed away.
So, the movie was reasonably entertaining, even if the kids were way too bratty. It's a familiar plot, but an engaging one, worthy of 90 minutes of your time.
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6.5/10
1.6K
