Ultimately fails to deliver on the audacity of its premise.
Comment
09/17/07
The Babysitters (2008)
31
%
Tomatometer
How does the Tomatometer work 
Reviews Counted:26
Fresh:8
Rotten:18
Average Rating:4.4/10
Consensus: Though built on an audacious and controversial premise, Babysitters teeters between exploitation and grossness due to uneven execution.
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... [More]
Starring: John Leguizamo, Katherine Waterston, Cynthia Nixon, Andy Comeau
Director: David Ross
Get This Movie
Reviews for The Babysitters
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.
05/16/08
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.
05/08/08
Woefully reductive and painful.
05/07/08
Top CriticIs 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?
05/08/08
Like the pilot for an awful, misguided joint venture between FX and the CW.
05/08/08
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.
05/09/08
Ultimately plays out as weakly as an actual adult film.
10/04/07
I'd call it a depressing soft-core porn flick, but that overstates its titillation factor. Mainly it's just icky.
05/09/08
Top CriticYou can see the potential in this off-kilter coming-of-age story, and it's a pity it never quite adds up.
05/09/08
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.
05/07/08
Daddies, don't let your daughters grow up to be babysitters, because according to The Babysitters, it's a gateway to whoredom.
05/07/08
The premise is out of '70s porn, and so is the overbroad satire and almost total lack of conviction.
05/07/08
Top Criticconfused
05/08/08
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.
05/17/08
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.
05/09/08
Top CriticAlthough the film is pitched as dark comedy, there's nothing very funny about the sexualization of teenagers.
05/09/08
Top CriticThe 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.
05/09/08
Their customers are awkward enough that we're able to believe the girls are in control, or at least aware that they're the highlight of the men's week.
05/15/08
Writer/director David Ross crosses a line into gratuitous exploitation by accentuating semi-pornographic settings to incite mixed emotions. The sensual side effect could work as a way of bringing an audience into the story's cruel discussion on human natu
04/29/08
Latest News for The Babysitters
RT On Current TV
What’s Hot On RT
Fresh Links
Featured
Best Sci-Fi This Decade 
Techland lists the best Sci-Fi films of this decade.
40 Worst Films of the 2000s
Moviefone takes a look back at the biggest stinkers of the past 10 years.
10 Questions For Zac Efron
The Me and Orson Welles star answers reader questions on TIME.com.
Best Decade Ever!
Hollywood.com's C. Robert Cargill offers his thoughts on what the best decade for film was.
Pee-Wee's Big Adventure
In the AV Club's "Scenic Routes," Mike D'Angelo reminisces about the Tim Burton film.
Promos
Follow RT on Twitter
Get the latest Tomatometer updates on upcoming movies!
IGN RSS Feeds