Plot
A comedy about a college student on suspension who is coaxed into babysitting the kids next door, though he is fully unprepared for the wild night ahead of him.
Release Year: 2011
Rating: 5.5/10 (4,078 voted)
Critic's Score: 39/100
Director:
David Gordon Green
Stars: Jonah Hill, Ari Graynor, Sam Rockwell
Storyline A comedy about a college student on suspension who is coaxed into babysitting the kids next door, though he is fully unprepared for the wild night ahead of him.
Writers: Brian Gatewood, Alessandro Tanaka
Cast: Jonah Hill
-
Noah Griffith
Max Records
-
Slater
Ari Graynor
-
Marisa Lewis
J.B. Smoove
-
Julio
Sam Rockwell
-
Karl
Landry Bender
-
Blithe
Kevin Hernandez
-
Rodrigo
Kylie Bunbury
-
Roxanne
Erin Daniels
-
Mrs. Pedulla
D.W. Moffett
-
Dr. Pedulla
Jessica Hecht
-
Sandy Griffith
Bruce Altman
-
Jim Griffith
Method Man
-
Jacolby
(as Cliff 'Method Man' Smith)
Sean Patrick Doyle
-
Garv
Alex Wolff
-
Clayton
Taglines:
Worst. Babysitter. Ever.
Release Date: 9 December 2011
Opening Weekend: $9,851,435
(USA)
(11 December 2011)
(2750 Screens)
Gross: $30,411,950
(USA)
(12 February 2012)
Technical Specs
Runtime:
Did You Know?
Trivia:
A promotional poster includes the personal phone number of Jonah Hill. It is listed as (917) 409-7838. Hill has set an automatic message or will speak to the caller either in character or as himself.
User Review
A deflated and desperate ride through the formula of chaos
Rating: 2/10
The Sitter is a deflated comedy robbed of all laughs, jokes, and
originality. It knows formula well, but doesn't know where to go from
there. It also knows how to pick a lovable lead actor who is
consistently funny in everything he does. It's the second film to be
released by independent filmmaker David Gordon Green this next to Your
Highness. Both will earn a special place on my list of worst films for
2011.
Even since Your Highness, David Gordon Green has successfully put me in
a state of never-ending puzzlement. Here's a guy that has made back to
back acclaimed independent features, and now, chooses to use his time
directing lame, directionless comedies without wit or a soul. The
Sitter takes an already mediocre premise and refuses to push it off its
feet into something more original or fresh. It understands the formula
inside out, but proceeds to disregard everything else.
Noah (Hill) is a layabout who is lured into babysitting three children
for his mom's friend so they can go to a party together. The kids are
sexual confused Slater (Record), the pint sized fourth Kardashian
Blithe (Bender), and the rebellious Latino Rodrigo (Hernandez). What
kind of children are these? They're not normal children. They feel like
real people shrunk down to fit pint sized kids. Regardless, their roles
aren't at all funny.
Soon after arriving at the job and discovering the chaotic duty behind
it, Noah's girlfriend Marisa (Graynor) calls asking him to deliver her
cocaine at a party and she'll reward him with sex. Noah tries to get
cocaine, but Rodrigo winds up stealing an egg full of cocaine, costing
Noah over $10,000.
Oh, and I'm not even going to continue from there. The film is
relentless in its gags and events, none of them even remotely realistic
or the least bit funny. The biggest laughs, in fact, aren't even from
Jonah Hill, but J.B. Smoove who you may recognize as Leon from Curb
Your Enthusiasm. I actually would've adored the idea of him playing the
babysitter much more than Hill. Don't you hate it when that happens? In
the same movie, you find an actor who is playing the secondary
character, but you wind up liking him more than the actor playing
primary character and wish the film went through some sort of star
reversal? The endangerment of the kids is sickening, the jokes
appallingly unfunny, the setups are outlandish, and the sentimentality
the film tries to shoot for at the end is deplorable. We just saw a man
put these children through hell, he's unapologetic throughout the
entire film, and now he wants to make a complete three-sixty and get on
their good side.
Is this as bad as Green's Your Highness? It's close. Your Highness at
least had the ability to have me stay frustrated for several hours
after watching the film. I got over The Sitter's abashed nature
quickly, but felt saddened and cheated. I was hoping that Green would
seek redemption in the character and everything wouldn't go the way it
was supposed to. Green isn't the director who stays inside the lines,
so I was hoping he'd make a smarter comedy here.
The Sitter is an exercise is cheap filmmaking. It relies on lackluster
stereotypes, recycled jokes, and caricatures to function inside its
dead formula. It's a miserable comedic workout.
Starring: Jonah Hill, Ari Graynor, Sam Rockwell, Method Man, Kevin
Hernandez, Max Records, and Landry Bender. Directed by: David Gordon
Green.
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