The Sitter (2011)

A college student on suspension is coaxed into babysitting the kids next door, though he is fully unprepared for the wild night ahead of him.

Director:

David Gordon Green

Writers:

Brian Gatewood, Alessandro Tanaka

Stars:

Jonah Hill, Max Records, Ari Graynor

1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Jonah Hill	...	Noah Griffith
Max Records	...	Slater Pedulla
Ari Graynor	...	Marisa Lewis
J.B. Smoove	...	Julio
Sam Rockwell	...	Karl
Landry Bender	...	Blithe Pedulla
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

Storyline

Noah, is not your typical entertain-the-kids-no-matter-how-boring-it-is kind of sitter. He's reluctant to take a sitting gig; he'd rather, well, be doing anything else, especially if it involves slacking. When Noah is watching the neighbor's kid he gets a booty call from his girlfriend in the city. To hook up with her, Noah takes to the streets, but his urban adventure spins out of control as he finds himself on the run from a maniacal drug lord.

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Plot Keywords:

babysitting | subway | chinatown manhattan new york city | stolen car | woman punching a man | 

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Taglines:

Need a Sitter?

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Genres:

Comedy

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for crude and sexual content, pervasive language, drug material and some violence

Details

Official Sites:

Official site

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

9 December 2011 (USA)

Also Known As:

Un niñero sinvergüenza

Filming Locations:

Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA

Box Office

Opening Weekend:

$9,851,435 (USA) (9 December 2011)

Gross:

$30,538,669 (USA) (9 March 2012)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation, Michael De Luca Productions, Rough House Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

81 min 87 min (unrated)

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The last film to feature Jonah Hill's rotund physique before his weight loss.

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Goofs

When Jonah gets out of the minivan before getting the drugs, the headlights are off but when it zooms out to the wide shot, they are on.

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Quotes

Noah Griffith: My name's Noah Jaybird. Ca caaa! What's your name?
Soul Baby: They call me Soul. Soul Baby.
Noah Griffith: Soul Baby?
Soul Baby: Yeah.
Noah Griffith: Keep it in control baby. Tears, no fears man.
Soul Baby: Is that right?
Noah Griffith: Respect it, don't neglect it. Treat it, don't beat it.
[walks away]
Soul Baby: You're a badass motherfucker.

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Connections

Featured in Great Movie Mistakes IV (2012)

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Soundtracks

"I Wanna Sex You Up"
Written by Bryan Abrams, Mark Calderon, Willie Clarke (as Willie James Clarke), Betty Wright (as Bessie Regina Norris), Elliott Straite, Kevin Thornton and Sam Watters (as Samuel Watters)
Performed by Color Me Badd.
Guest Vocals by Sam Watters
Courtesy of Sam Watters and Louis Biacaniello / CMB Entertainment

User Reviews

Make Love to the Night

Greetings again from the darkness. Seeing more than 100 new movies every year means strict adherence to the "gut instincts" policy of deciding which new movies to see, and which to avoid. A day after the beat down of "Shame", I was desperate for laughter, so I ignored the gut instinct and headed out to see this new comedy. Unfortunately, my gut was correct, and I am still seeking laughter.

David Gordon Green also directed Pineapple Express and Your Highness, neither my style, but both clearly comedies. Jonah Hill has quite the track record of comedy films (Cyrus), and earlier this year made his first foray into drama with "Moneyball". He has also recently lost a tremendous amount of weight, so this was to be his final "fat guy" comedy.

If you have seen the far-superior "Adventures in Babysitting" (1987) with Elisabeth Shue, then you know the basic premise. Hill does his mother a favor by agreeing to babysit her friend's three kids. This proves more challenging than Hill's character expected. The kids are Slater, played by Max Records (Where the Wild Things Are); Blithe, played by Landry Bender; and Rodrigo, played by Kevin Hernandez. The kids, of course, have various afflictions, phobias and disorders ... but none as off the charts as Hill's character.

Without going into detail, the first scene is horrible and the movie somehow proceeds to get worse from there. There is bathroom humor, a run in with a drug dealer (Sam Rockwell), a bitchy girlfriend (Ari Graynor) and a confrontation with a group of African Americans featuring Method Man. Every scene is predictable and generated no laughter from me or hardly anyone else in the theater. I always say that comedies are most difficult genre to review, because everyone has a unique sense of humor ... but this one just offers so very little.