An effective alternative to water-boarding, this piece of cinematic rubbish goes like this (I clicked for spoilers but why?--what's rotten is already spoilt. Anyway: young woman still 'finding her way in life' is fired when her boyfriend, who truly raises the bar for other would-be jackasses, makes a scene at the joint where she tends bar. Right away, a good example of the desperation that sours this film: she's fired for the botfriend's stupidity.) No place to live, no money, yada yada, she's DESPERATE! Also desperate is the cold, unfeeling, Leona Helmsley-type mother of a 12-year-old boy: her nanny has quit just as Mom is leaving to visit the boy's maximally absent stepfather, who (of course) cares for/about the boy even less than mom does. Wouldn't you know it? Despite having no nanny, the young woman is hired bang-like-that. Turns out--guess what?--the kid is a child genius: mathematics, music (performing AND composing), chess, who knows what-all else. And with his huge allowance, which is the sole consideration he gets from his parents, he always get his own way. Example: mom insists he be driven to school, but he wants to walk, so he bribes the driver; also, bluffs his way out of the (despised) summer camp Mom has laid on by conning the head counselor. That sort of thing. He's a 12-year-old Ferris Bueller but even more repugnantly smug. Well, at first hapless nanny and the kid don't get along; she's shocked by his behavior. But then they begin to sort of get along. Then they buddy up. THEN--and NO ONE saw this coming--they form A BOND. And finally, what with his folks in China and no one else to say them nay, they proceed to (spoiler alter!) BREAK ALL THE RULES. Another Hollywood surprise-shocvk-stunner is that, it turns out, the kid ends up nannying HER. Adding insult to injury is the score, which is revoltingly clicheed, and may cause stomach upset. By the way: see those rave quotes from US Weekly and TV Guide? Now you know you can never trust them again.
Review of Like Sunday, Like Rain
