The Sitter

 

 

 

Director: David Gordon Green

Writers: Brian Gatewood, Alessandro Tanaka

Cast: Jonah Hill, Ari Graynor, Max Records, Landry Bender, Kevin Hernandez

In the world of babysitting, Hollywood has always done a good job of over exaggerating the events that take place during the time of babysitting between the sitter and the children. Some times they can be enjoyably funny, however, on many occasions they never really make for a memorable theme, being just somewhat amusing.

A film that I recently viewed that follows the guidelines of the over the top babysitting genre, is The Sitter (2011). From the same director that brought to life Pineapple Express, David Gordon Green, I had high hopes for the film. Along with the director, I was excited to see some of the characters that are featured in the film, expecting good comedy.

 Synopsis:

Starring Jonah Hill as the male protagonist, this film depicts the story of a school suspended college student who gets coaxed by his mother into babysitting the children next door. Unwillingly Noah Griffith (Jonah Hill) goes to the neighbors to serve his duty. Shortly after his arrival, Noah realizes that there are three children that he must take care of for the night and all of them are unique in their own ways. The oldest child Slater (Max Record) is a subtle speaking thirteen-year-old anxiety prone kid going through an overwhelming amount of personal issues. The next child introduced is the young celebrity crazed daughter Blithe (Landry Bender), who lavishly throws excessive amounts of makeup juxtaposed with her outrageous Paris Hilton like dialogue of everything being “hot”. The final child, introduced to the audience and Noah, is the adopted pyromaniac son Rodrigo (Kevin Hernandez) who is literally a walking disaster.

The night begins as the parents depart filling Noah’s world in a complete helter-skelter with one disaster after another. In the realms of the thematic babysitting films in Hollywood, The Sitter takes the usual events of the misbehaved children vs. the babysitter to exaggerated heights full of laughs, but also predictability.

The Bad:

This whole film is honestly fairly funny, yet it lacks many elements that would make it a good film. Overall, I had a stream of laughs, but it was mainly centered toward Noah Griffith. The children had high potential when they were first introduced to the viewers, but as the film paced on, they let me down more and more. In the introduction of the children I thought this film was going to be hilarious with the trio being the funniest characters. Unfortunately, I was let down in this aspect as well. The three were not funny, lacking enough creativity that they did not keep my attention; I was simply bored with them. Rodgrido was more annoying than anything, being incredibly predictable and simply not funny. Blithe was debatably the funniest of the three, yet she was also predictable and repetitive in her comedic dialogue. Max, well he was just boring. I really had high hopes for the three kids in the film to be a lot more creative and witty, but The Sitter simply did not deliver that.

 The Good:

Jonah Hill. Jonah Hill. Jonah Hill. As the babysitter Noah Giffith, he absolutely makes this film what it is. I found The Sitter to be a plain bland of over exaggeration, which made me not enjoy it as much as I would have liked, yet Noah Griffith kept me laughing the entire time, keeping me attached to the film. He continually makes the funniest comments that are both inappropriate and hysterical, whether they are directed towards an adult or one of the children, he just does not care. Having the mentality of a care free individual who is witty with quick remarks and humor, Griffith’s character will surely keep anyone enjoying this film.

Rating: 2.5/5

Overall the film was not that great. I did enjoy Noah Griffith, but that was about the only thing. Everything else was over exaggerated in a predictable manner that was not really funny. I had high hopes at the beginning the film and was let down by the end. Although nothing was too great, I did find myself laughing a good bit, mostly due to Noah Griffith’s dialogue.

Buy It or Rent It?

I would not buy the film, however, I would watch it again. If the intentions are to simply pass the time, then go ahead, watch the film. If you’re looking for a film that will make you laugh the entire time and also be considered a successful film with clever characters and a smooth storyline, then The Sitter is not for you.