Unlike The Devil Wears Prada, another big-screen adaptation of a chick lit bestseller, The Nanny Diaries is a rather uninspired production featuring two talented leading ladies. Laura Linney stars as a wealthy and controlling Park Avenue socialite, and Scarlett Johansson plays a recent college grad who finds herself working as a nanny for the uptowner’s spoiled young son. The two fulfill the requirements of their roles, particularly the always fine Linney, but they really don’t click in the numerous scenes they share (unlike Prada’s Meryl Streep and Anne Hathaway). Though topical and undoubtedly more effective on the printed page, the film’s humor rarely rises above that of a sitcom set in a gorgeous apartment.

Shelf Talk: There’s already a built-in audience for The Nanny Diaries—those who snapped up some 4 million copies of the 2002 best-selling book upon which the film is based. And the star power doesn’t hurt either, as the recent popularity and marketability of Johansson (The Prestige, The Island), Linney (The Exorcism of Emily Rose, Breach) and co-stars Paul Giamatti (Lady in the Water) and Chris Evans (the Fantastic Four movies) can’t be denied.