I'm a fan of both Murphy and Fanning; but this
film might be one they'll leave off their
resumes.
The idea
is cute enough: clueless, rich, club girl (heir to
late famous rock star father's money) lives like a
princess but has "no center" crashes (accountant
takes off with her nest egg) into a nanny job for
little prissy, paranoid, nagging, safety-junky,
uptight 8-going-on-80 year-old. Of course, they have
a lot to learn from each other, but in the meantime,
they're both annoying.
The first hour-plus hosts only a precious few
moments of charm and/or comedy. You'll be more often
wincing at lame site gags: the old tripping over all
the clothes in the closet gag, the infamous heel
break, and who could forget the soaping-over washing
machine bit (add bad Chinese accent voice-over "What
happen here? What Happen here?). Ouch.
That said, your endurance will be rewarded with a
very sweet climax. Part of which, you'll see coming;
still warmly shot, and emotively loaded -- I got all
choked up (no kidding). Part of which, you might not
see coming, very sweet, worthy of a tear in the eye.
I definitely would have bumped up this film's grade
to a B- had it not been for a cheesy cliché
voice over that stole the beauty of an otherwise
graceful conclusion.
Perhaps, younger crowds will enjoy? But with a
PG-13 rating, they oughtn't be too young.
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