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The Babysitters

The Babysitters (2008)

May. 09,2008
|
5.6
|
R
| Drama

Seventeen-year-old Shirley is a good student who works as a babysitter in order to make money for college. One night Michael, a father Shirley works for, confesses he's unhappy with married life. Shirley has a crush on Michael, and seizes this moment to kiss him. Michael is so happy he presents Shirley with a big tip, which gives her an idea. Shirley plans to make extra money by setting up her teenage friends with other unhappy fathers.

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VividSimon
2008/05/09

Simply Perfect

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Lollivan
2008/05/10

It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.

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Robert Joyner
2008/05/11

The plot isn't so bad, but the pace of storytelling is too slow which makes people bored. Certain moments are so obvious and unnecessary for the main plot. I would've fast-forwarded those moments if it was an online streaming. The ending looks like implying a sequel, not sure if this movie will get one

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Janae Milner
2008/05/12

Easily the biggest piece of Right wing non sense propaganda I ever saw.

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Paul Magne Haakonsen
2008/05/13

The sole reason for why I picked up "The Babysitters" was because of John Leguizamo being in it. Having read the synopsis for the movie, and that wasn't particularly a selling point for me. So, for me, the movie was depending on John Leguizamo to carry it - and so he did.The story in "The Babysitters" is about a young girl who babysits for a family, and whilst driving her home in the evening, the dad invites her in to a diner for something to eat. Here they come to talk and a spark is set off between them. The dad ends up having sex with the babysitter. Eventually his friend finds out and wants in on the deal, and the babysitter bring in her friends to help servicing these adult men who have wives and kids. And business is good for the 'babysitters'.Storywise, then "The Babysitters" doesn't really blow you away - pardon the pun. The story is good enough in itself, although it does deal with a taboo subject, so the movie may not be suitable for just anyone.What made the movie watchable was the acting in the movie, because people really did great jobs with their given roles and characters. And also the characters in the movie were really fleshed out nicely and in great detail."The Babysitters" is a story- and character-driven movie, so don't expect the movie to get up into a fast pace at any given moment.If you enjoy dramas that deal with issues that are not common day events - controversial events you might say - then "The Babysitters" might be just the right movie for you.

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Roland E. Zwick
2008/05/14

The well-acted indie drama "The Babysitters" takes what appears on the surface to be fairly salacious and distasteful material and turns it into a scathing attack on contemporary mores and values.Shirley (Katherine Waterston) is an attractive suburban high school student who decides to make a little extra money babysitting for the young son of a local couple. When the husband, Michael (John Leguizamo), who is clearly unhappy in his marriage, pays to have sex with her at the end of the night, Shirley comes up with a scheme to parlay that into a full-fledged teen-prostitution ring, with Michael lining up other clients among his married buddies and Shirley setting herself up as a sort of "madam," "hiring" her friends from school to serve as under-aged "call girls." But the folks involved soon discover that, when it comes to affairs of the heart and of the loins, one can't always dictate how things will turn out.Writer/director David Ross aims at a wide range of targets, from the sterility of suburbia and middle class marriage to middle-aged men who refuse to grow up – and who, instead of serving as moral guides for the girls, are willing to exploit them for their own perverted needs - to the capitalist system itself, at least as embodied by the "enterprising" young entrepreneur, Shirley, who often has to stoop to ruthless and dictatorial tactics to ensure the viability and survival of her business.But always, beneath it all, there is the intense sadness and emotional emptiness of the situation, as these attractive young ladies - who are really just confused and insecure kids under all the makeup, sexy clothing and alluring bravado - find themselves getting into something they can neither fully understand nor fully control. Even Michael seems unable to separate the sex from his own more romantic feelings for Shirley as he battles with jealousy thinking about her with other men. Perhaps, the most indicting line of dialogue comes from one of the creepier gents who cluelessly proclaims that one day, when these girls are all grown up, they will look back on this time as one of the greatest of their lives. Yet, paradoxically, the exploitation goes both ways, as these "naïve" girls, particularly Shirley, wrap a bunch of immature middle-aged men around their little fingers, ultimately using the men's uncontrollable libido against them.It is this complicated twist that gives the film its darkly humorous tone and makes "The Babysitters" more than just a titillating and exploitative exercise in finger-wagging moral umbrage.

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Aregie
2008/05/15

I am incredulous at the positive reviews for this movie. The only positive thing I can say about the film is the strong performance by the lead actress.The film was billed as a dark comedy on my local cable channel. It was dark, yes, but it was a stretch to find anything to laugh about with teen girls being exploited by not only their father's peers, but by each other.For me, it could have succeeded as a study of serious moral dilemma, but the characters were far too superficial and there was little insight provided into their behavior.The Babysitters is an excuse to watch braless teens bounce across the screen, nothing more. And sadly, I'm afraid this probably many people's cup of tea.

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lastliberal
2008/05/16

OK, there is something slightly sleazy about watching a movie featuring high school girls making money providing sex to dads.Michael (John Leguizamo) and his wife (Cynthia Nixon) are falling into routine, and she is not interested in his hobby. His job is becoming a bore. He and the babysitter (Katherine Waterston) fall into an illicit relationship.Soon, Shirly (Waterston) gets her friends into babysitting for $200 a pop and takes a cut.One of the girls (Louisa Krause) wants out and things go to hell.Waterston was really good, and I always enjoy Leguizamo in anything he does.

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