Adventures in Babysitting (1987)

Director:

Chris Columbus

Writer:

David Simkins (written by)

Release Date:

1 July 1987 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Adventure | Comedy | Thriller

Tagline:

She thought babysitting was easy money - until she started hanging out with the Andersons.

Plot:

Chris Parker agrees to babysit after her "dread" date stands her up. Expecting a dull evening, Chris settles down with three kids for a night of TV...

Plot Keywords:

Bus Station | Flat Tire | Party | Tow Truck | Babysitter

Awards:

2 wins & 2 nominations

Cast

Elisabeth Shue	...	Chris Parker
Maia Brewton	...	Sara Anderson
Keith Coogan	...	Brad Anderson
Anthony Rapp	...	Daryl Coopersmith
Calvin Levels	...	Joe Gipp
Vincent D'Onofrio	...	Dawson / 'Thor' (as Vincent Phillip D'Onofrio)
Penelope Ann Miller	...	Brenda
George Newbern	...	Dan Lynch
John Ford Noonan	...	Handsome John Pruitt
Bradley Whitford	...	Mike Todwell
Ron Canada	...	Graydon
John Davis Chandler	...	Bleak (as John Chandler)
Dan Ziskie	...	Mr. Anderson
Allan Aarons	...	Janitor #1
Marcia Bennett	...	Nurse

Also Known As:

A Night on the Town (Australia) (UK)

Runtime:

102 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

70 mm 6-Track (70 mm prints) | Dolby (35 mm prints)

Certification:

UK:15 (TV rating) | UK:PG (original rating) | USA:PG-13 (Certificate #28566) | Australia:M | Finland:K-10 | Iceland:L | Sweden:11 | UK:12 (video re-rating) (2003) | UK:15 (video rating) (1988)

Filming Locations:

Chicago, Illinois, USA

Company:

Silver Screen Partners III

Trivia:

Christina Applegate and Nicole Eggert both auditioned for the role of Sarah.

Goofs:

Crew or equipment visible: When Pruitt gets out of his semi at his home, the camera crew is reflected into his rear-view mirror on his truck.

Quotes:

Chris: Just relax, Chris, tonight is going to be the greatest night of your life.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Anything But Love: Adventures in Baby-sitting (#3.8)" (1991)

Soundtrack:

Babysittin' Blues

Charming

For an unknown (to me) reason, when I saw this on British TV, it was called "A Night On The Town", a far inferior title than 'Adventures in Babysitting', although maybe they figured that parents would think this a children's movie...

Anyway, the movie itself is charming in that way that only 1980s US comedy films are. There is an air of innocence to the whole thing, before these more conscious and overtly cynical days that we know and hate now - maybe a reason why 1980s retro is all the rage now... that, and things are cyclical.

I thought the film WAS charming, although entirely far-fetched in its plot lines, although I think that was kind of the point. The characters, while not being very complicated, were warm and at least not entirely two-dimensional, and the little girl was quite cute and not extremely annoying as could have happened.

Overall, I'd recommend it to hounds who love to watch 80s films.