For some reason it seems that those who make movies feel
that every teenager wants to be either grossed out or teased with the most
gratuitous amount of foul language possible. I'll admit that when I was younger
to hear someone drop the F bomb would stun me. But in today's world with
today's films it's become rather passé.
Jonah Hill, who took a step forward when he went from the
crude teen comedies he was making to star in MONEYBALL, takes two steps back
with THE SITTER. Hill stars as Noah Griffith, a loser who lives with his
mother, has no future planned and would rather be stoned than anything in the
world. With the exception of having Marisa as his girlfriend. Marisa uses Noah
for oral sex and nothing else, leading him to believe they have a connection
when in truth she lusts after the local MMA star.
Wanting the best for his mother, Noah agrees to baby sit for
her best friend while she goes out on a date that has bright prospects. Of
course the kids are far from normal. Slater is a psychiatrist dream with so
many problems that he can't think straight. Blithe is a wanna be celebrity
elementary schooler. And that leaves Rodrigo, the adopted son of the family who
has a penchant for blowing things up.
Noah gets a call from Marisa while sitting: pick up some
cocaine and rush over to a party she's at and she might have sex with him.
Being the responsible sitter he is, Noah packs the kids in the car and off they
go to find the money to buy drugs and then deliver them.
Of course they end up doing nearly everything but with
adventures involving robbing Noah's father's diamond business, dropping into an
all black bar and running afoul of the drug dealer when Rodrigo steals a large
plastic egg filled with drugs. The dealer gives Noah a few hours to recover the
drugs or the money.
If you think this sounds like a twisted version of the
classic ADVENTURES IN BABYSITTING, you'd be right. But unlike that movie which
had more than its share of funny situations and laughs, this movie relies on
the lowest common denominator of jokes to attempt to squeeze jokes out. And it
fails almost every time.
While I watched I kept hoping that funny things would
happen. There were a few rare occasions when they did but those were short
lived. Instead I got more of the foul language in front of kids (or used by
kids, something Hollywood thinks is funny these days) and references to drugs
and sex that helped to create the worst years in the history of SNL, that
period of time which never makes it to reruns on any channel. These items are not funny just because you
toss a lame joke at them.
Late in the movie Noah suddenly seems to care about the kids
he's watching. But it comes far too late and out of nowhere. The entire time he
spends with these kids at first seems like he's there to earn some money and
help his mom. Before a few hours are over, he suddenly wants to help these kids
find their place in life, something even he hasn't achieved. Not only does it
make an unbelievable situation, it makes the film seem more awkward than
helpful.
Hill has made better movies in this genre, some that are
even funny. But this movie is anything but.
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