The Sitter (2011)

Director:

David Gordon Green

Writers (WGA):

Brian Gatewood (written by) &
Alessandro Tanaka (written by)

Release Date:

9 December 2011 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy

Tagline:

Worst. Babysitter. Ever.

Plot:

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.

Plot Keywords:

Babysitting | Subway | Chinatown Manhattan New York City | Stolen Car | Woman Punching A Man

Awards:

1 nomination

Cast

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
Jack Krizmanich	...	Ricky Fontaine
Grace Aronds	...	Twin #1
Jane Aronds	...	Twin #2
Lou Carbonneau	...	Maitre' D
Alysia Joy Powell	...	Kid City Employee
Ernie Anastos	...	News Anchor
Dari Alexander Williams	...	News Broadcaster #2
Samira Wiley	...	Tina
Sammuel Soifer	...	Benji Gillespie
Kevin Townley	...	Valet
Trevor Zhou	...	Asian Fish Monger
Wendy Hoopes	...	Bethany
Ethan M. Davis	...	Ashton Griffith (as Ethan Davis)
Reggie Alvin Green	...	Soul Baby (as Reggie A. Green)
Nick Sandow	...	Officer Frank
Nicky Katt	...	Officer Petite
Eddie Rouse	...	Lounge Singer
Henry Kwan	...	Asian Man #1
Michael G. Chin	...	Asian Man #2
Gracie Lawrence	...	Wendy Sapperstein (as Gracie Bea Lawrence)
Jackie Hoffman	...	Mrs. Sapperstein
Peg Stegmeyer	...	Piano Player
Jonathan Forte	...	Guy on Subway Platform
Mark Moynahan	...	Dr. Stevens
Greg Wall	...	Bat Mitzvah Band #1
Zevy Zions	...	Bat Mitzvah Band #2
Jordan Hirsch	...	Bat Mitzvah Band #3
Jonathon Peretz	...	Bat Mitzvah Band #4
Anthony Pompa	...	Bat Mitzvah Band #5
David Hirsch	...	Bat Mitzvah Band #6
Angel Picard-Ami	...	Ricky Fontaine's Girlfriend
Dreama Walker	...	Stephanie (scenes deleted)
Ron Phippen	...	Guy Having Sex (scenes deleted)
Jessica DiGiovanni	...	Girl Having Sex (scenes deleted)
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Gary Cherkassky	...	Disk Jockey (uncredited)
James Franco	...	Soap Actor (archive footage) (uncredited)
Jian	...	Asian Man With Smoke (uncredited)
Len Murach	...	Taxi Driver (uncredited)
Paul Thornton	...	Upscale Bat Mitzvah Attendee (uncredited)
Joe Urban	...	War Veteran (uncredited)
Barbara Vincent	...	Bar Mitzvah Guest (uncredited)
Paul Weaver	...	Bat Mitzvah Guest (uncredited)

Directed by
David Gordon Green

Writing credits (WGA)
Brian Gatewood		(written by) &
Alessandro Tanaka		(written by)

Produced by
Josh Bratman	....	executive producer
Michael De Luca	....	producer
Jonah Hill	....	executive producer
Donald J. Lee Jr.	....	executive producer
Lisa Muskat	....	executive producer

Original Music by
Jeff McIlwain
David Wingo

Cinematography by
Tim Orr

Film Editing by
Craig Alpert

Casting by
Carmen Cuba
Alexa L. Fogel

Production Design by
Richard A. Wright

Art Direction by
Matthew Munn

Set Decoration by
Sara Parks
Danielle Webb

Costume Design by
Leah Katznelson

Makeup Department
Angel De Angelis	....	hair department head
Lori Hicks	....	makeup department head
Sheri Kornhaber	....	key makeup artist
Theresa Marra-Siliceo	....	hair stylist
Pamela May	....	key hair stylist
Christopher Milone	....	makeup artist
Diana Sikes	....	hair stylist
Leo Won	....	key makeup artist

Production Management
David Bausch	....	production supervisor
Maggie Engelhardt	....	production supervisor: additional photography
Lily Gwyer-Miller	....	post-production supervisor
Stuart Macphee	....	post-production supervisor

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Adam Bernard	....	additional second assistant director
Jeffrey T. Bernstein	....	first assistant director
Marcos González Palma	....	second assistant director: second unit
Craig Haagensen	....	second unit director
Nancy Herrmann	....	second assistant director
Casey Madigan	....	second second assistant director
Dixon McPhillips	....	dga trainee
Ted O'Connor	....	second second assistant director
Richard Patrick	....	first assistant director: second unit

Art Department
Julie Albanese	....	set dresser
Gary Boesch	....	carpenter
Adam Brustein	....	graphic designer
Philip Canfield	....	leadman
David Cooney	....	storyboard artist
Christopher Doogan	....	painter
Chris Ferraro	....	set dresser (as Christopher 'Cuz' Ferraro)
Lauren Fitzsimmons	....	assistant art director
Isaac Gabaeff	....	props
Anne Goelz	....	assistant art director
Alex Gorodetsky	....	chargeman scenic artist
Maria Gorodetsky	....	scenic shopman
Sam Greto	....	key carpenter
Chris Heaps	....	set dresser
Jay Hendrickx	....	camera scenic
Richard Hoppe	....	set dresser (as Richard K. Hoppe)
Shane Ingersoll	....	art production assistant
Miriam Johnson	....	art department coordinator: reshoots
Michael Jortner	....	property master
Mollie Laurienzo	....	art department coordinator
Victor Morales	....	scenic artist
Quang Nguyen	....	scenic foreman
Glen Pangione	....	construction coordinator
Reginald Polynice	....	prop illustrator
Michael Powsner	....	props
Moshe Rabinowitz	....	carpenter
Kyle Salvatore	....	assistant property master
Dana Shimko	....	art department production assistant
Dana Shimko	....	art department production assistant: re-shoot
Charles R. Suter	....	scenic artist
Maria Suter	....	scenic artist
Danielle Webb	....	assistant set decorator
Anthony Baldasare	....	set dresser (uncredited)

Sound Department
Rick Chefalas	....	first assistant sound editor
Patrick Christensen	....	adr recordist
Marko A. Costanzo	....	foley artist
Neil Danziger	....	boom operator
Dann Fink	....	adr voice casting
Tom Fleischman	....	sound re-recording mixer
Christof Gebert	....	production sound mixer
Steve Giammaria	....	assistant re-recording mixer
Russ Gorsline	....	additional adr
Kenton Jakub	....	adr editor
Michael Jesmer	....	adr recordist
George A. Lara	....	foley mixer
Beauxregard Neylon	....	adr mixer
Phil Rosati	....	sound utility
Jac Rubenstein	....	dialogue editor
Wyatt Sprague	....	sound effects editor
Billy Theriot	....	adr mixer
Paul Tirone	....	sound re-recordist
Paul Urmson	....	sound re-recording mixer
Paul Urmson	....	supervising sound editor
Steven Visscher	....	supervising foley editor
Tony Volante	....	sound re-recording mixer
Lawrence Zipf	....	assistant sound editor
John Soukup	....	sound transfer (uncredited)

Special Effects by
John Stifanich	....	special effects coordinator

Visual Effects by
Brian Scott Benson	....	visual effects artist
Derek Bird	....	digital compositor
Seth Brower	....	compositor: Look FX
Manda Cheung	....	digital compositor
Leslie Chung	....	digital compositor
Steve Dellerson	....	executive producer: Look FX
Ryan Duffy	....	vfx scanning: Deluxe New York
Nicholas Elwell	....	visual effects coordinator: Hydraulx
Cary H. Flaum	....	visual effects producer
Wendy Garfinkle	....	visual effects producer
Brad Kalinoski	....	digital supervisor: LOOKFX
Mathew Krentz	....	digital supervisor: LOOK Effects
Matt Kushner	....	visual effects coordinator: LOOK Effects
Sun Lee	....	senior matte painter: Hydraulx
Craig Mathieson	....	digital compositor
Richard Nehmad	....	visual effects compositor
Uros Otasevic	....	visual effects artist
Bruno Parenti	....	digital compositor
Jale Parsons	....	roto/paint artist
Dan Schrecker	....	visual effects supervisor
Laura Sevilla	....	digital compositor
Ben Sumner	....	digital compositor
Mani Trump	....	digital compositor
Ross Vincent	....	visual effects artist
Michael Zavala	....	2D coordinator: Hydraulx VFX

Stunts
Roy T. Anderson	....	stunts
Bobby Beckles	....	stunt performer
Bobby Beckles	....	stunts
Steven Cachie Brown	....	stunt double
Chris Cenatiempo	....	stunts
Victor Chan	....	stunts
Blaise Corrigan	....	stunts
Douglas Crosby	....	stunt double
Peter Epstein	....	stunts
Jeffrey Lee Gibson	....	stunt coordinator
Stephen Izzi	....	stunts
Albert Lamont	....	stunts
Raw Leiba	....	stunts
Harry Madsen	....	stunts
Kevin Michael Murphy	....	stunts
Nnamdi Nwosa	....	stunts
Jeremy Sample	....	stunts
Brian Smyj	....	stunt driver
Matthew R. Staley	....	stunts
Aaron Vexler	....	stunts
Caroline Vexler	....	stunts
Kym Washington	....	stunt double
Jen Weissenberg	....	stunt double
Jen Weissenberg	....	stunts
Jimmy P. Wong	....	stunt player

Camera and Electrical Department
Joe Belschner	....	dolly grip: "b" camera
Michael Cambria	....	key first assistant camera: second unit
Patrick Capone	....	director of photography: second unit
Pedro Corcega	....	film loader: second unit
Howard J. Cournoyer	....	rigging electrician
Mark Cyr	....	video playback
James J. Ferris	....	electrician
William Hines	....	basecamp generator operator
Jennie Jeddry	....	film loader: second unit
Billy Kerwick	....	key rigging grip
Kevin Kerwick	....	rigging grip
John Krause	....	a camera: dolly grip
Hamilton Longyear	....	additional camera loader
Michael Ludwig	....	grip: second unit
Bruce MacCallum	....	camera operator: "a" camera
John R. MacDonald	....	first assistant camera: "b" camera
Nick Maczka	....	grip
Michael C. Maronna	....	electrician
Michael J. Maurer	....	generator operator
John McIntyre	....	key second assistant camera: second unit
Kevin McKenna	....	digital video assist operator
Charles Meere III	....	rigging gaffer
Doug Meils	....	video playback operator
Jessica Miglio	....	still photographer
John S. Moyer	....	camera operator: "b" camera
John S. Moyer	....	steadicam operator
Jeff Panessa	....	company grip
Robbin Park	....	best boy grip
Matthew Pebler	....	remote head technician
Matthew Pebler	....	second assistant camera: "a" camera
Craig Pressgrove	....	first assistant camera: "a" camera
Chris Primavera	....	rigging grip
Steve Ramsey	....	gaffer
Lance Rieck	....	scorpio head technician
Eric P. Robinson	....	second assistant camera: "b" camera
Mike Sime	....	video/computer playback engineer
John C. Walker	....	additional camera loader
Daniel Wallenstein	....	rigging grip

Casting Department
Allison Hall	....	background casting associate
Christine Kromer	....	casting associate
Jason Montgomery	....	casting production assistant
Katrina Wandel	....	additional casting: associate
Michael Warwick	....	casting associate
Bruce Winant	....	adr voice casting
Kathryn Zamora-Benson	....	casting assistant
Christian Kaplan	....	executive in charge of casting (uncredited)

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Jill E. Anderson	....	additional costumer
Gina Battoglia	....	costume production assistant
Patricia Eiben	....	additional costumer
Jill Losquadro	....	assistant costume designer
David Paulin	....	costume ager/dyer
Lydia Popper	....	costume coordinator
Samantha L. Seda	....	wardrobe production assistant
Paul Sinnott	....	wardrobe assistant
Malik Summers	....	costumer
Lawrence Tarzy	....	set costumer
Abby Walton	....	costume assistant
Alissa Wehrli	....	costume production assistant
Susan J. Wright	....	wardrobe supervisor

Editorial Department
Victoria Anderson	....	colorist assistant
James Carretta	....	assistant editor (as Jim Carretta)
Aliya Carter	....	post-production coordinator
Timothy Donovan	....	apprentice editor
Chris Gennarelli	....	colorist: high definition dailies
Colin Patton	....	additional editor
Richie Roefaro	....	avid technician
Tim Stipan	....	digital intermediate colorist
Samantha Uber	....	digital intermediate assistant editor

Music Department
Tass Filipos	....	music editor
Brendan Ryan	....	musical director
E. Gedney Webb	....	music editor
Mark Wike	....	music supervisor

Transportation Department
Ed Boyle	....	transportation
James Chestermann	....	transportation
Thomas McGoldrick	....	transportation co-captain
Robin Monaghan	....	driver
Timothy Paustian	....	transportation captain
Thomas Reilly	....	transportation co-captain
Gabe Turiello	....	camera car driver

Other crew
Douglas Armitage	....	locations
Douglas Armitage	....	production assistant
Finise Avery	....	photo double
Richard M. Bartholomay	....	location scout
Katri Billard	....	script supervisor (additional script supervisor)
Johnathan Bowling	....	set production assistant
Steven Ramon Bryson	....	production assistant
Rob Buschgans	....	assistant accountant
Christina Chow	....	production assistant
David Clarke	....	additional production assistant
Chris Cloud	....	location assistant
Morgan Collins	....	production assistant (as Morgan P. Collins)
George Daratany	....	production assistant
Sam Day	....	office production assistant
Joshua P. Dease	....	second payroll accountant
Gjustina Dushku	....	production assistant
Maggie Engelhardt	....	production coordinator
Scott Ferlisi	....	assistant location manager
Jay Ferraro	....	stand-in: Jonah Hill
Marti Glaser	....	location assistant
Niko Godfrey	....	second assistant accountant
Kate Gimbel Goldman	....	location assistant
Damon Michael Gordon	....	location manager: second unit
Katie Groves	....	stand-in: Ari Graynor
Michael Hall	....	production assistant: re-shoots
Eva Hannon	....	payroll clerk
Jonathan Hoeg	....	key set production assistant
Kaelan Kelly-Sordelet	....	production assistant: 2nd Unit
Brian Ketcham	....	location assistant
Steven J. Klaszky	....	stand-in
Samantha Kreitzer	....	asst. production coordinator
Matthew Landry	....	production assistant
Frank LeBlanc	....	office production assistant (as Frank Petrucci)
Gine Lui	....	location scout
Brendan C. Lynch	....	additional production assistant
Lincoln Major	....	production assistant
Talia Mayer	....	assistant: M. DeLuca and D. Lee
Jordan McKown	....	production assistant
Dana Morgan	....	stand-in: photo double: Max Records
Kyle Mumford	....	unit p.a.
Len Murach	....	location manager
Brian Fountain Murray	....	location assistant: second unit
Jennifer Opresnick	....	script supervisor
Hyo Park	....	assistant location manager
Ellen Parnett	....	staff set production assistant
Natasha Rivera	....	production assistant
Allison Robin	....	product placement and clearances
Darius Shahmir	....	epk & behind the scenes
Kathryn Sigismund	....	accounting clerk
Peter J. Silbermann	....	unit publicist
Missy Simms	....	studio teacher
Emily Sklar	....	production assistant
Kati Sklut	....	production secretary
Marcus Slabine	....	staff production assistant
Sascha Springer	....	assistant location manager: Yonkers
Michelle Stella	....	location coordinator
April J. Stevens	....	additional production assistant
April J. Stevens	....	production assistant
Ramona Sánchez-Waggoner	....	production accountant
Nadia Tabbara	....	set production assistant
Kathryn Tamblyn	....	assistant to jonah hill
Regina Taufen	....	epk field producer
Alexander Uhlmann	....	assistant: Ms. Muskat
Michael Vasquez	....	first assist accountant
Christian Vogeler	....	production assistant
Luca Waldman	....	production assistant
Shawn Willis	....	location scout
Greg Wyrick	....	payroll accountant
Imran Yusufzai	....	accounting clerk
Diego Daniel Pardo	....	dialect coach (uncredited)

Production Companies

• Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation (as Twentieth Century Fox) (presents)
• Michael De Luca Productions (as Michael De Luca)
• Rough House Pictures

Distributors

• 20th Century Fox Australia (2012) (Australia) (theatrical)
• 20th Century Fox (2011) (Canada) (theatrical)
• 20th Century Fox (2012) (France) (theatrical)
• 20th Century Fox of Germany (2012) (Germany) (theatrical)
• Forum Cinemas (2012) (Lithuania) (theatrical)
• Hispano Foxfilms S.A.E. (2012) (Spain) (theatrical) (as Hispano Foxfilm S.A.E.)
• Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation (2011) (USA) (theatrical)
• 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment Japan (2012) (Japan) (DVD)
• 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment (2012) (Argentina) (DVD)
• 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment (2012) (Argentina) (DVD) (Blu-ray)
• 20th Century Fox de Argentina (2012) (Argentina) (all media)
• Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment (2012) (Netherlands) (DVD)

Special Effects

• LOOK! Effects (visual effects)

Other Companies

• Liquid Soul Media  marketing and publicity
• ARRI / Camera Service Center  grip and lighting equipment
• Dolby Laboratories  sound mix
• Gallagher Entertainment  insurance
• Maron Studio  footage courtesy of
• Post Factory NY  post-production facilities
• Rex Post  additional adr
• Scarlet Letters  end titles
• Tomkats Catering  catering

Also Known As:

"Pinch Sitter" - Japan (English title) (DVD title)

MPAA:

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

Runtime:

81 min | USA:87 min (unrated version)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

USA:R (certificate #47127) | Canada:14A (Ontario) | Ireland:15A | Malaysia:18 | Australia:MA15+ | UK:15 | South Korea:18 | Singapore:M18 | Argentina:13 | Netherlands:12 | Germany:12 | Germany:12 (extended cut) | Sweden:11 (DVD rating)

Filming Locations:

Brooklyn, New York City, New York, USA

Company:

Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation

Trivia:

The character Garv, played by Broadway actor Sean Patrick Doyle, is based on an eccentric roller-skater Jonah Hill met in Venice Beach. The role was added to later drafts of the script.

Goofs:

Continuity: 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.

Movie Connections:

References Mary Poppins (1964)

Soundtrack:

Hoochie Mama

A deflated and desperate ride through the formula of chaos

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.