The Babysitters (2007)

User Rating:

5.9/10   

Director:

David Ross

Writer (WGA):

David Ross (written by)

Genre:

Drama

Tagline:

These girls mean business.

Plot:

A teenager turns her babysitting service into a call-girl service for married guys after fooling around with one of her customers.

Plot Keywords:

Call Girl | Babysitter | Flashback | High School Junior | Mountain Cabin

Cast

Lauren Birkell	...	Melissa Rowan
Paul Borghese	...	Cook
Chira Cassel	...	Health Teacher
Anthony Cirillo	...	Adam Beltran
Spencer Treat Clark	...	Scott Miral
Andy Comeau	...	Jerry Tuchman
Alexandra Daddario	...	Barbara Yates
Ann Dowd	...	Tammy Lyner
Jason Dubin	...	George
Harold Fort	...	Doug
Alexie Gilmore	...	Jill
Halley Wegryn Gross	...	Nadine Woodberg
Michael Knowles	...	Guidance Counselor
Louisa Krause	...	Brenda Woodberg
Adam LeFevre	...	Mr. Brown

MPAA:

Rated R for disturbing strong sexual content, language and some drug use - involving teens.

Runtime:

88 min | Canada:90 min (Toronto International Film Festival)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.78 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Canada:18A | USA:R | Australia:MA (2008) | Netherlands:12 | New Zealand:R18

Filming Locations:

Clinton Diner, Maspeth, Queens, New York City, New York, USA

Company:

Forensic Films

Trivia:

Howard Stern was offered the chance to be a producer on the film but he turned it down.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Shirley Lyner: Shirley Lyner. I'm a junior at Alfred E. Groves high school. This is my babysitting service. The answer is no: mom doesn't drink, dad didn't hit me, Uncle Steve never showed me his privates. I don't even have an Uncle Steve. The money is nice, and paid fellatio isn't that much more humiliating than flipping burgers. But that's not why I do it.

Soundtrack:

21 People

Worth a rainy afternoon...

Just saw this film at TIFF (Toronto International Film Festival). The director was there and participated in the Q&A. The film was entertaining, I'll give it that much, however the major problems stem from it just doesn't feel like the film-making team really knew what kind of film they wanted to make. The tone is muddled and therefore you're never really sure how to feel about most of the situations. The sex scenes are probably the most interesting of the film, and mostly because that's really the only time where we really see the characters and what they're going through. Cynthia Nixon and John Leguzamo play a married couple, and although they're both cast well and play the parts well I find it very hard to believe them as a couple at all. I think that the writing and portrayal of their characters is fine, it just doesn't fit. The director/writer seems to prefer going after internal conflict rather than external, the main problem is that in the end we never really get a sense of how this whole story has affected everyone. We're left on a very vague not that I think hurts the film more than helps it. That and it kinda/sorta felt like a newer take on 'Pizza Boy' with Patrick Dempsy (and from a marketing point MILFS are way more interesting than... oh my... FILFs?)