The Nanny Diaries Movie Discussion Session

 

Date

Discussion/Activities

Week 3 (12/10/2013)

1.     1. As usual, all of us gathered for the third meeting at the study area near CIMB Bank.          2. Our group leader, Hui Lian gave some briefing about the plot of the The Nanny Diaries.          3. Then, we do discussion about the movie that we have watched before , The Nanny Diaries.          4. We discuss about our feelings,main idea of the movie and which character we like.          5. We had fun during the discussion as everyone had different opinions about the movie . 6. The future meeting will be held at the same venue as well.

 

video on the nanny diaries discussion session

GUIDE QUESTIONS

During the movie

1.    1) Who are the 5 most important characters in the film? List out the names of the actors playing them.     

Scarlett Johnson as Nanny Annie Braddock

Laura Linney as Mrs Alexandra X

Paul Giamatti as Mr Stan X

Nicholas Art as Grayer Addision X

Alicia Keys as Lynette

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2) What is the story about?

A 21-year-old girl who called Annie Braddock is a fresh graduate from Montclair State University. Annie still has no idea about what or who she wants to be. She is very confused about her future as she wishes to be an anthropologist but her mother does not believe that there is a real career in that field. Her mother, who works as a nurse wants Annie to have a career in finance. In fact, Annie has an interview with a top company but failed in the end of the interview. One day, while she is sitting at the park and still wondering about her own future, Annie sees a young boy who is about to be hit by a scooter looking device. Annie saves him and meets his mother, Mrs. Alexandra X. When she introduces herself as "Annie", Mrs. X has misheard her words for "Nanny" and hires her to look after Grayer, the boy that she saved. Annie’s mother still thinks that Annie is working at Goldman Sacks but, in reality, Annie moves in with the X's to be the nanny for Grayer.

Soon, Annie realises that the life being a nanny who looks after the X’s son is very challenging and hard. Annie’s life is becoming complicated further when she falls for "Harvard Hottie", who lives in the same building. Annie also begins to notice that Mr. X does not pay attention to his wife and his son as he is occupied with his business. Mrs. X fires Annie after Mr. X makes a move on Annie. Annie searches for and finds the 'nanny cam' in the X's house which is actually a teddy bear that has been shown in the starting scene of the movie in the museum. Annie records her feelings towards the X's by using the nanny camera. The next day, Mrs. X brings the tape to the school meeting for the East side wives. Mrs. X thinks that the tape will show Annie’s bad behaviour and the reasons that she fires Annie, so she makes a request to the coordinator for playing the tape to enable everyone to watch. All the other parents in the room hear as Annie reveals the real relationship between the X's.

Some time has gone by, Annie does not stop dating "Harvard Hottie", whose real name is Hayden. Annie’s mother has finally agreed Annie with her studying Anthropology.  A few months later, Hayden hands Annie an apology letter from Alexandra X. The content of the letter is about how Alexandra left Mr. X, how Alexandra spending time with Grayer, and how Annie brought positive changes towards her life. This leads to a happy ending for everyone.

3.     3)What group of people would like to watch this film?

Teenagers would love to watch this film as most of the teenagers love to watch comedy movie.

After the movie

        1) Do you like this movie? Why or why not?

Yes, I like it. This is because I love the part when Grayer expresses his longings towards Annie so that she will not leave him alone when Annie gets into a taxi, Grayer tries to run to her asking her not to go and as the taxi pulls off he chases it down the road. I love that part so much as the part really shows how close the relationship between Annie and the little boy, Grayer is.

      2)What rating would you give for this movie?

4 out of 5 stars

        3) What spoilers would ruin this movie if you told your readers about it?

Mrs. X revealed to her friend that she installed a nanny camera in the house to keep an eye on her and during that time, Annie overheard the conversation between Mrs. X and her friend. Therefore, Annie found out that the nanny camera was hidden in a teddy bear.

      4) All movies teach a lesson (theme or moral). What did you learn from this movie?

Money cannot buy love. Although Mr. X is rich and successful in his business, he still loses his own family. The reason is he does not pay any attention to his wife and his son. In the result, his wife, Mrs. X wants to divorce.

      5)What title would you give for your review?

Money can’t buy happiness.