Scarlett Johansson plays a bright young thing, Annie Braddock, who sidesteps a leading career decision by taking an easy job where she's paid not to think - she becomes a nanny to the seven year old son of Laura Linney and Paul Giamatti's wealthy, but self-obsessed couple living on Manhattan's Upper East Side.

Annie's mother wants her daughter to find a fabulous career so Annie chooses to tell a big fat lie, telling her mother she's got a great job and then trying to keep up the pretence that's what she's doing in the Big Apple.

This is a Bridget Jones style drama comedy, since we follow Annie's life with the same kind of introspection including her romantic exploits with Harvard Hottie (Chris Evans). Annie discovers that what she thought would be a doddle of a job is anything but, Mr and Mrs X turn out to be completely obnoxious and as a result Annie gets treated like a dogsbody. The wonder is why it takes her so long to realise it.

The difference between this and Bridget Jones, is that the BJ comedies are funnier. The Nanny Diaries has a great cast, but it's mostly underused. The writer-director team who previously did well with the film American Splendor which also starred Paul Giamatti, have come a cropper here. They perhaps believed that audiences would think The Nanny Diaries would be seen as some sort of wonderful satire in the style of a film like Clueless.

The film has a fine pedigree, but it plays out earnestly. Stylistically it's fresh - look out for Scarlett heading into the sky with her red umbrella like some sort of latterday Mary Poppins - but that can't disguise the fact that this is tepid stuff.