The Baby-Sitters Club

When I first saw this movie, I wanted to run far, far away. The cheese! The corniness! The horror! But years later, I have come to appreciate it. Everyone who's familiar with the BSC will definitely watch this movie looking for any discrepancies from the series, and discrepancies abound. As for the actresses who play the Baby-Sitters? Well, one's wearing a wig, another is way older than the others, and one just seemed like a bad casting choice altogether. And as for the plot? Kristy's dad coming to town and everything involving that was a real downer. Plus, the Stacey/Luka thing (despite the fact that Luka is HOT!) was just WEIRD. The best parts in the movie were those involving the play group. What also saves this movie is its hidden talent(s) -- look for Kyla Pratt, Scarlett Pomers ("I've been to the moon!"), Larisa Oleynik, Rachael Leigh Cook, Marla Sokoloff, and Austin O'Brien. So all in all I've chosen to look past the cheese and realize that this movie is just a G-rated romp about friendship that really isn't a waste of your afternoon to watch. 7 stars out of 10.

In my opinion this is a great family film! I never cared about the books, but I loved the TV show, and when the movie came out, it was a must see, and I've just recently bought a copy of it. If you have kids, it's a must have. If you don't have kids, it's a must have!

I know, I'm 14 and a little old to be watching this movie, but its so cute and funny! I love it and I actually got it for my 14th birthday, but do I care? I still love it! It's the best! Especially for little girls, and of course 14 year old girls, all my friends and I think its so adorable and fun!

I used to read the books when I was around nine years old so it was quite nostalgic moment for me catching this film one morning. Unlike the lacklustre series, this was quite a nice portrayal of the books and the child actors were able to bring the characters to life.

The plot is easy enough to follow, even for those who have never read the books before, and the film would probably appeal very much to young girls who are at an age when they have a hundred best friends. But I don't think anyone older than twelve (with the exception of the teenage and twenty-something former fans of the book!) would be very interested other than to reminisce on that innocent, childish period when life revolved around homework, best friends and relishing in the freedom of the summer hols.

One thing, however, that struck me while watching the film. It did remind me how ridiculous the whole concept of eleven- and thirteen-year-olds forming a babysitting group was. At that age, I'd be hiring a babysitter for *them* since they're as young as the kids they babysit!

My only knowledge of "The Baby-Sitters Club" book series was that I used to see it in the Scholastic ads when I was a kid. I have no idea how faithful this movie is to the books. I gotta admit I found myself mocking a lot of this movie, as it is definitely made from corn. But I remind myself that I am not part of the demographic this was made for and try to be fair. If you can suppress your grown-up cynicism for awhile, it's actually pretty cute. The girls are all fun to watch and seem to enjoy being in the movie. Marla Sokoloff is a great little villainess. Rachel Leigh Cook would go on to be the most famous of any of the Club girls. She's "all that" here, too.

Some of the girls have little subplots. One girl has boy problems with the kid from Last Action Hero. The lead girl has daddy issues due to her absentee father showing back up. Another girl has diabetes and talks about it like it's leprosy and she's deathly afraid of telling her new Swiss boyfriend about it. He's a dork, by the way. But my favorite is the girl who is worried about flunking summer school and whines about it every chance she gets. Her friends reassure her that they will help her study and everything will be fine. This leads to the movie's highlight, a hilarious scene where the girls perform the most epic rap song ever to help her. It has to be seen to be believed.

I found myself liking this movie more as it went on. It's easy to dismiss it as fluff, and I guess it is, but it's enjoyable fluff. The actors, young and old, are decent. The direction is a little flat and the whole thing kind of looks like a made-for-TV movie but I liked it anyway. I think little kids might like it most or perhaps people who grew up in the '90s and are nostalgic about it.