“Babysitting sucks…adult men don’t babysit things.” The Sitter was hilarious and definitely the kind of comedy for my generation. It’s a little less stoner comedy and a lot more black comedy from the director who brought you Pineapple Express, David Gordon Green. Starring Jonah Hill before he lost weight (so he’s still funny), The Sitter is a ridiculous night out with very random events that never seem to stop. Joined by three kids who steal the show, the movie has nonstop laughs and crazy/weird scenarios.
Jonah Hill is Noah Griffith, a slacker/nerd who only thinks about himself. He’s forced to babysit three kids so his hard-working divorced mom can go on a date and maybe actually have fun for once. The kids are the movie. You have Slater (Max Records) – a highly medicated kid with anxiety issues, Blithe (Landry Bender) – a little princess who watches way too much TV and wants to be a grown up rich girl who’s famous for doing absolutely nothing, and Rodrigo (Kevin Hernandez) – an adopted El Salvadorian who likes to cause mischief and blow things up. They. Were. Awesome.
The kids are the movie.
The plot is pretty run of the mill; but, for some reason the sum of all the parts in this one just seem to work. Noah has a “girlfriend” who just uses him to get things for herself. So when Noah is left in charge and gets a call from Marisa (Ari Graynor) to have sex if he can score her some coke, you know the babysitting gig is going on a road trip and antics will ensue. What you don’t know is all of the crazy stuff that will come their way: Bodybuilding drug lair? Random run ins with girls from high school? Best friend drug dealer? Exploding toilets? It’s all pretty over the top but that doesn’t mean it’s not funny…you can’t help but laugh!
"I came for the motherf*cking keys to my motherf*cking minivan!"
This is rated R and the jokes are pretty obscene. They’re executed wonderfully by most members of the cast, especially the kids. Blithe will by far be the audience’s favorite as she sings along and dances to every rap song that’s inappropriate for her. Great casting includes people like Sam Rockwell, J.B. Smoove, Reggie Alvin Green and Method Man which ensure even more laughs from the different tangents that unfold through the night. As expected, Noah turns into a badass, has realizations of his own as well as heart to hearts with the kids adding a bit of closure into this otherwise runaway train/car crash of a movie. If the script wasn’t so genuine and funny, this movie could have been a real mess. There was even a random segue…with a random segway.
Jonah Hill with Max Records, Landry Bender, and Kevin Hernandez
I wasn’t expecting The Sitter to be as good as it was but with the onslaught of laughs, outrageous turns in the story, and adorable kids you can’t help but get attached to…this movie won me over. Also, Kylie Bunbury might be the cutest girl I’ve seen on screen all year. The soundtrack was really impressive with some classic hip hop choices that fit perfectly in the storyline. Again, this is just another crazy night out kind of movie but it’s really really funny and holds nothing back. I honestly want to see a sequel or a weekly sitcom involving the kids…their characters are just too good and work really well together. “Double punch in the nut sac!”
Tags: Ari Graynor, David Gordon Green, J.B. Smoove, Jonah Hill, Kevin Hernandez, Kylie Bunbury, Landry Bender, Max Records, Method Man, Reggie Alvin Green, Sam Rockwell, The Sitter
Matthew Fong created advancescreenings.com and is the lead contributor. He watches every type of movie and will try almost anything twice. You can follow him on twitter here: @matthewfong
