The Sitter

Genre: Comedy
Released: 2011

Rating:  

“The Sitter” is one of those movies where you walk out and go, “that was alright.” There’s nothing spectacular about this film which is essentially “Harold and Kumar”, “Superbad”, “The Adventures of Babysitting” and “Don’t Tell Mom The Babysitter’s Dead” rolled up in to one. I would be lying if I said I wasn’t entertained a little. It’s a quick eighty-minute film that packs in decent laughs and good heart. The heart aspect was surprising to me. Considering the films raunchy nature, it was an interesting balance watching Jonah Hill’s character try to deliver messages to these kids. Though, the film gets a bit sloppy and uneven and these moments start to feel a little unnatural. The movie’s charm definitely warrant at least a rental, maybe a matinee viewing.

The film stars Jonah Hill (“Superbad”, “Moneyball”), Ari Graynor (“Mystic River”, “What’s Your Number”), Max Records (“Where the Wild Things Are”, “The Brothers Bloom”), J.B. Smoove (“Date Night”, “We Bought a Zoo”), Sam Rockwell (“Confessions of a Dangerous Mind”, “Iron Man 2″), Landry Bender (her first feature film) and Kevin Hernandez (“How I Spent My Summer Vacation”).

The film opens with a familiar song and a not so familiar act. As Noah Griffith (Hill) is performing a particular act on his “girlfriend”, Marisa (Graynor), we get the sense this is going to be a pretty raunchy flick. What’s funny is that when I rode the elevator down to my car after the movie, a mother was standing in the elevator with her daughter, saying she only took her to see the film because there were kids in it. Based on the trailers, she had no idea it was an R-Rated raunchy movie.

Noah’s character is currently out of school and living at home with his mom. We learn that his dad left them years ago for another women and they’ve been living on their own ever since. Noah’s mom wants to find a new man and an order for her to go on date this particular evening, her friend needs a sitter. Feeling bad for this mother, Noah sucks it up and thinks nothing really bad could come of this. Little did he know what he was getting himself in to. Long story short, at the beginning of the night, his girlfriend calls him asking for cocaine and wanting to hook-up. But she’s all the way across town at a party and he’s stuck baby sitting three kids. He packs the three kids in the minivan to go along for the ride and the rest you will have to see in the movie.

At eighty-minutes, the film doesn’t bore for a second. That is a blessing and a curse. The curse being that parts of the story move way too fast which creates this unbelievable element and throws you out of the film. That being said, it was kind of nice to see a film that trims the fat; no pun intended. It gets to the point and the emotions work. The emotional side of the story almost overpowers the comedic side which might disappoint some people.

Director David Gordon Green, who also did “Pineapple Express” and the awful “Your Highness”, has great taste in music. I absolutely loved his choices of old school hip hop. The movie almost had an old school hip-hop music video vibe to it. I was telling my fellow critics that it reminded me of that Pharcyde video where the group was going back-wards. (Song is called “Drop” by The Pharcyde- Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=co3qMdkucM0)

The film has a very dark angle to it as well, much like “Pineapple Express”, except for less blood and gore. There were plenty of explosions and very strange sequences though. The strangest being the introduction to Sam Rockwell’s character, who plays the villain in the film. He was absolutely fantastic but I didn’t quite understand the entire bit that was surrounding his drug dealing palace. The random body builders didn’t quite make sense and made it feel like the film maker was trying way too hard.

Overall, “The Sitter” is very luke warm. It kept my interest and made me laugh a few times. The heart was what sold the film. Hill’s interaction with the three kids was fantastic. “The Sitter” is a solid matinee, hence the 3 star rating.