I did not like this movie. I found the kid obnoxious. He was just so perfect.

Argh, what a beautiful little film! I'm still melting a little inside a day after stumbling across this offering on Netflix. If you are a fan of smaller, art-house type of films where characters are brought to the fore, you will definitely love this sweet little story. Nothing much happens, except that everything happens. A brilliant-but- isolated twelve year-old on the cusp of puberty discovers a soul mate of sorts in his temporary, harried and somewhat "messy" new nanny. The story is seen through Eleanor's (the Nanny) eyes, but Justin Shatkin as the young prodigy is the find of the decade. I've no idea who this young actor is (this seems to be one of his first films), but I cannot wait to see this kid grow up and into new roles! This role is ripe enough: the memorization alone would fell most young actors let alone the depth of maturity required to pull this off, but he has truly seemed to crawl deep into the skin of this character and he masters all of the subtle emotion this film calls for. The film is not without its flaws. The latter third could use a slight rewrite and/or rethink. But it is a gem of a little film and well worth the two hour investment. See it!

I almost turned this off after the first 15 minutes. There was some truly horrible acting, primarily from bit parts, but the story soon focuses on the Nanny (Eleanor, played by Leighton Meester) and the boy (Reggie, played by Julian Shatkin), and things begin to improve. It also took a while for young Julian Shatkin to grow on me, but eventually his nearly emotionless portrayal opens up with more facial expression and age appropriate gestures. He seems to take on more personality as the chemistry between him and Ms. Meester grows. The acting continues to be unbalanced, mostly when Reggie is acting so precocious, which is when lines are delivered with the least emotion.My biggest complaint about the movie is that the cello scenes weren't staged better. Mr. Shatkin shouldn't bear the weight of portraying a "cello prodigy" in those scenes since he doesn't play the cello. The music is described as "beautiful" in the dialogue, but I don't see it. In one scene the camera stays on Eleanor as she ascends a flight of stairs with music in the soundtrack, but there is no shot of Reggie playing. For all we know, she's just exploring the house, not following the "beautiful" sound of the boy playing. How about some close ups of a cello being played well, by a real cello player with young hands?

Julian Shatkin did quite well playing a preteen savant named Reggie, considering his age, but writer/director, Frank Whaley, let him down. The role would have been more believable had Whaley given him a wider emotional range (and, in my view, it's the director's job to coax the writer into writing each character equally well - funny that the director did not have that conversation with himself as the writer!). From the start of the movie, the boy's isolation is palpable as his mother plans to leave him on travels. (Debra Messing plays her well, but the part is limited and is only consequential in that it shows how emotionally deprived Reggie was.) He "snaps" at his friend at one point, as he put it, but compared to the frustrations of dealing with adults and children who rarely understand him or his choices, there was not enough emotion, particularly not enough anger. I feel his character loses a certain amount of aliveness because of it.In great contrast, Whaley was able to figure out Eleanor's (the nanny's) emotions, and Leighton Meester was in turn able to play those emotions brilliantly.After the movie ended, I attempted to flash back to moments where Leighton had not played her role authentically, and could not find any such moment. That's how great her acting is. The fierceness of her initial confrontation with her boyfriend was placed into context by our understanding of her family that followed. A beautiful young woman emerges from the initial mess, and we quickly find that she possesses advanced maternal instincts toward Reggie, supporting him exactly as he is, with all his awkward brilliance, even as he bends her to his wishes along the way. Her character is no pushover and she has her own plans, caring for her own soul as well.Overall, the film is well worth watching, as it will move you, and you may even understand what children need a bit better. They need love. Leighton Meester clearly has that love in her, and her performance is a credit both to her and to Whaley. Yes, both actress and writer/director got Eleanor exactly right.