Babysitting Movie Reviews

Related Subjects: Kids_and_Teens

Family movie reviews for "Babysitting" sorted by average review score:

Adventures in Babysitting

Released in DVD by Touchstone Video (29 January, 2002)

MPAA Rating: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)

Director: Chris Columbus

Starring: Elisabeth Shue

Way before she grabbed an Oscar nomination for her searing performance as a world-weary prostitute in Leaving Las Vegas, Elisabeth Shue was known as one of the squeaky-clean actresses of the '80s. Having made a splash in The Karate Kid and the '60s-nostalgia TV series Call to Glory, Shue cemented her good-girl reputation with the charming but badly titled Adventures in Babysitting. Set in the John Hughes-style suburbs of Chicago, the titular adventures follow babysitter Chris (Shue), who agrees to watch the Anderson kids (Keith Coogan and Maia Brewton) when her boyfriend cancels their anniversary date. All is quiet on the home front until Chris is called upon to rescue her best friend (Penelope Ann Miller, also doing good-girl duty) from the seedy downtown bus station. She can't leave the kids, and she can't leave her friend alone in the big bad city, so she packs everyone in the station wagon and heads into Chicago. Screwball craziness begins as they encounter car thieves, knife-wielding gangs, gun-toting truck drivers, and, worst of all, Chris's duplicitous boyfriend. It's hardly mature entertainment, but Shue makes it work; when she wins over the audience at a blues club with her improv singing, you'll be won over, too. In his directorial debut, Chris Columbus (who later when on to helm the sap-fests Mrs. Doubtfire and Home Alone) gently skewers the suburbia white-bread mindset of the main characters, and plays up the comedy over the schmaltz with a subtlety of which he now seems incapable; the near romance between Shue and Coogan is played lightly and adorably. Look for brief appearances by art-house faves Lolita Davidovich as a college party girl and Vincent D'Onofrio as an unlikely savior. --Mark Englehart

Average review score:

Brenda's waiting in the bus station while Liz sings Blues!

The scene where Elizabeth Shue sang the Babysitting Blues will remain in enfamy. Well-executed cute film ! nothing deep here... no earth shattering social mores discussed; society's ills are not cured. It;s just a feel-good, sit back and enjoy it kind of movie.

Baby! Baby! Babysittin' blues!

In the tradition of Uncle Buck, Home Alone, and Trains Planes and Automobiles, Adventures in Babysitting is another screwball comedy that has become a "Chicago Classic."

Babysitting Is Dangerous!

Chris Parker is in for one hell of a night!

A babysitter, Chris Parker (Elisabeth Shue) was looking forward to a date with her boyfriend, but he decides to cancel, and she's left feeling disappointed, of course. But, more importantly, she decides to keep an eye on kids Brad (Keith Coogan) and Sara (Maia Brewton) while their parents attend a gathering. However, Chris is suddenly faced with a challenge when her friend Brenda (Penelope Ann Miller) is scared to death, as she lands in a seedy downtown Chicago bus station, during her attempt to runaway from home. Chris has to make a choice: stay home with the kiddies, or go downtown to rescue her friend. Of course, she chooses the latter option, and takes the kids with her. Meanwhile, Brad's sex-obsessed best friend, Daryl (Anthony Rapp) happens to blackmail the gang into letting him come along for the ride. And from there, the action begins.

The kids bump into one misadventure after another in the mean streets of urban Chicago. From flat tire accidents, to auto theft, to gang fights, to secret criminal operation headquarter drop-ins, and then some -- somehow, no matter where they turn, these kids find themselves caught up in one catastrophe after another, so to speak. And, of course, their biggest challenge - other than making it through all the chaos in one piece - is to rescue Brenda, and make it back home before the parents arrive.

While the attributes of the film that were mentioned above sound pretty disturbing -- at least for a film aimed at the younger audience, there's very little that's dangerous in this film -- all of these elements are made to be kid - or rather - pre-adolescent-friendly. It's quite interesting and compelling how Chris Columbus made so many gritty elements appear fun and lighthearted, without sinking into sheer parody and silliness.

You can find guest appearances from many who would go onto more acclaimed projects. All in all, a lighthearted, fun, adventurous (pun excusable), charming and utterly poignant film. A guilty pleasure? Absolutely not - just a pleasure, as I have no shame in enjoying this film.

Three Men and a Baby/Adventures in Babysitting

Released in DVD by Buena Vista Home Vid (19 November, 2002)