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Movies / On DVD / The Babysitters
The Babysitters

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The Babysitters (2008)

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Reviews Counted: 25

Fresh: 7

Rotten:18

Average Rating: 4.3/10

Consensus: Though built on an audacious and controversial premise, Babysitters teeters between exploitation and grossness due to uneven execution.

Runtime: 90 mins

Genre: Comedies

Theatrical Release: May 9, 2008 Limited

Synopsis: In this dark comedy, Shirley Lyner (Katherine Waterston) may be just 16 years old, but she's smart. However, instead of just using her intelligence to get into college, she's started her own business that may help pay her way through... In this dark comedy, Shirley Lyner (Katherine Waterston) may be just 16 years old, but she's smart. However, instead of just using her intelligence to get into college, she's started her own business that may help pay her way through school. She discovers that babysitters can make more money entertaining horny fathers than just watching kids, and soon she has a group of seductive teens in her employ. But even though Shirley is mature for her age, she soon realizes that her business may be too much for her to handle. John Leguizamo stars as the first father to sample Shirley's wares, and SEX AND THE CITY's Cynthia Nixon plays Shirley's mother. [More]

Starring: John Leguizamo, Katherine Waterston, Cynthia Nixon, Andy Comeau

Starring: John Leguizamo, Katherine Waterston, Cynthia Nixon, Andy Comeau, Denis O'Hare

Director: David Ross

Director: David Ross
Screenwriter: David Ross
Producer: John Leguizamo, Kathy DeMarco, Cora Olson, Jennifer Dubin, Jason Dubin
Composer: Chad Fischer
Studio: Peace Arch Entertainment

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Release:

Sep 16, 2008

[DVD Details]
 
 

DVD Features:

  • Keep Case

Audio:

  • Stereo - English

Reviews for The Babysitters

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1 - 20 (sorted by date)
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Ratings Image

A pathetic excuse to trot out a procession of teenage girls in the raw, performing graphic simulated sex acts with your basic suburban family man drooling all over himself.

Full Review Source: NewsBlaze | comment Comment
05/17/08
Prairie Miller
NewsBlaze
Ratings Image

It's bad enough that writer-director David Ross indulges in the very perverse kind of Lolita-tinged titillation the film pretends to lament, but then he ties everything up with an oh-well shrug.

Full Review Source: Washington Post | comment Comment
05/16/08
Ann Hornaday
Washington Post
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Ratings Image

Until it crosses a shadowy line dividing serious comedy from distasteful exploitation, The Babysitters has the makings of an incisive satire of greed and lust in suburbia.

Full Review Source: New York Times | comment Comment
05/09/08
Stephen Holden
New York Times
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Ratings Image

David Ross's stylishly tawdry black comedy fits neatly between Heathers and American Beauty. The Babysitters Club this ain't.

Full Review Source: TV Guide's Movie Guide | comment Comment
05/09/08
Ken Fox
TV Guide's Movie Guide
Ratings Image

The script has a stale air, like something that was doing the rounds for a long time before David Ross found backers to make a film out of it.

Full Review Source: Toronto Star | comment Comment
05/09/08
Susan Walker
Toronto Star
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Ratings Image

Although the film is pitched as dark comedy, there's nothing very funny about the sexualization of teenagers.

Full Review Source: Newark Star-Ledger | comment Comment
05/09/08
Stephen Whitty
Newark Star-Ledger
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Ratings Image

I'd call it a depressing soft-core porn flick, but that overstates its titillation factor. Mainly it's just icky.

Full Review Source: New York Post | comment Comment
05/09/08
Kyle Smith
New York Post
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Ratings Image

It reads like a Cinemax special event, and as good as Leguizamo and Waterston (daughter of Sam) are, the skeevy, fantasy-fulfillment plot that drives David Ross' movie is uncomfortably risky business.

Full Review Source: New York Daily News | comment Comment
05/09/08
Joe Neumaier
New York Daily News
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Ratings Image

The film remains engaging in no small part because of the beguiling and enigmatic performance of [Katherine] Waterston, daughter of Law & Order star Sam Waterston.

Full Review Source: Los Angeles Times | comment Comment
05/09/08
Mark Olsen
Los Angeles Times
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You can see the potential in this off-kilter coming-of-age story, and it's a pity it never quite adds up.

Full Review Source: Jam! Movies | comment Comment
05/09/08
Liz Braun
Jam! Movies
Ratings Image

Despite the racy content and the alarmist 18A classification, The Babysitters is a remarkably restrained and decent film. It's polished, smoothly edited and shot with simple elegance.

Full Review Source: Globe and Mail | comment Comment
05/09/08
Kamal Al-Solaylee
Globe and Mail
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Ratings Image

Is Ross trying to mimic Michael Haneke, daring his audience to be disgusted by the very titillating premise which probably brought them to the movie in the first place?

Full Review Source: FilmJerk.com | comment Comment
05/08/08
Edward Havens
FilmJerk.com
Ratings Image

confused

Full Review Source: Filmcritic.com | comment Comment
05/08/08
Paul Brenner
Filmcritic.com
Ratings Image

Like the pilot for an awful, misguided joint venture between FX and the CW.

Full Review Source: Metromix.com | comment Comment
05/08/08
Geoff Berkshire
Metromix.com
Ratings Image

There's little real wit here and, as far as teen-chick antics go, it's definitely no Heathers or Clueless, not even Cruel Intentions.

Full Review Source: Film Journal International | comment Comment
05/08/08
David Noh
Film Journal International
Ratings Image

The premise is out of '70s porn, and so is the overbroad satire and almost total lack of conviction.

Full Review Source: Entertainment Weekly | comment Comment
05/07/08
Owen Gleiberman
Entertainment Weekly
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Ratings Image

By undermining the subtle feminism of his movie, [director] Ross ends up undermining the whole thing, culminating in a terrifying parking-lot scene that doesn’t quite make sense.

Full Review Source: New York Press | comment Comment
05/07/08
Mark Peikert
New York Press
Ratings Image

Woefully reductive and painful.

Full Review Source: Village Voice | comment Comment
05/07/08
Ed Gonzalez
Village Voice
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Like television’s Six Feet Under and the recent film Juno, it’s the perfect antidote to the dopey, butter-cream-frosted teen flicks of John Hughes -- Pretty in Pink with poison sauce.

Full Review Source: New York Observer | comment Comment
05/07/08
Rex Reed
New York Observer
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Ratings Image

Daddies, don't let your daughters grow up to be babysitters, because according to The Babysitters, it's a gateway to whoredom.

Full Review Source: Slant Magazine | comment Comment
05/07/08
Nick Schager
Slant Magazine
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