This drama paints a striking portrait of Reggie (Julian Shatkin), a wealthy and neglected twelve-year-old prodigy with the maturity of a middle-aged man; and Eleanor ( Leighton Meester), a broke ex-musician in her twenties recently out of work, boyfriend and home, who lands a job as Reggie's au pair for the summer in Manhattan while his mother (Debra Messing) travels overseas. Written and directed by Frank Whaley, produced by Uri Singer, and breathtaking cinematography by James Jones.
This film took a very different, almost romantic approach with a charming, artistic, sensitive yet domineering child rather than the traditional spoiled brat who hates the nanny. The two hit it off right away. Eleanor naturally accepts his maturity and treats him as an equal when she realizes that trying to be the grown-up in the relationship is pointless in the company of a genius. In many ways, Reggie takes better care of her than she does of him.
The conflict doesn't stem from the relationship between these two unlikely friends, but from their personal lives. This could have been why it felt a bit lacking in conflict overall, because no major problems arise between the two main characters. However, this blossoming friendship is where the unexpected bulk of the humor comes from, with witty and surprising dialogue between these very different but equally troubled characters learning how to co-exist.
Several things were set up or talked about that were never paid off, which underplayed the conflict and there wasn't enough of a resolution. Rather than showing how the characters have grown or been changed and strengthened by one another, the whole final act kind of feels like a montage of shots of them missing each other while trying to go back to their previous lives.
Very good acting, Julian Shatkin is phenomenal, the film is worth watching for his performance alone; not to take away from the rest of the cast. Leighton Meester is very natural in her role, Debra Messing is quite funny as an unjustifiably stressed-out woman whose normal routine includes going to the spa and on exotic vacations; and Georgia Ximenes Lifsherr is hilarious as Eleanor's best friend Silvia. Even Eleanor's parents who, while not in much of the film, manage to stay memorable with their hostile quirks. We weren't very impressed with Billie Joe Armstrong's performance as Dennis, Eleanor's boyfriend. His style was pretty over-the-top and childlike, very "acty," not terribly believable. Overall film score: 9/10. Here's the breakdown:
– Story: 8/10 — Characters: 10/10 — Acting: 9/10 (would be 10/10 if not for Billie Joe's performance) — Cinematography: 10/10 — Soundtrack: 10/10 — Most Lacked: Conflict & Character Arc
