The Babysitters
The Babysitters
R | 09 May 2008 (USA)
The Babysitters Trailers

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.

Reviews
Paul Magne Haakonsen

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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Kimberly Jayne R

I loved the characters though I did wish that the movie didn't end so fast, I would have loved to see someone's wife find out. There are a lot of interesting and sleazy events taking place in this film and oddly enough you'll find yourself glued to the seat begging for more craziness to happen as the story line unfolds. This film is dramatically insane with hot romances and yet its a little disturbing once you factor in the age and lives that they lead. These girls are not your typical high school students, don't expect anything but slightly tamed adult material from this flick. This movie in my opinion is a must see, and most definitely not for people with an open mind.

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Roland E. Zwick

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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jacknalen

This is a light-hearted comedy about a teen girl who possess the drive and ambition to turn her baby sitting service into sexual smörgåsbord of under-age delights. Shirley (Katherine Waterston) the head of the babysitters acts as the fun loving pimp who makes her friends and their little sister available to babysit to families in the area. After a night of watching the little tykes the girls will be driven home by the fathers, then perform sexual acts with the middle aged men. Not only do these girls gain helpful business experience and make serious coin, but they also help raise the morale of the husbands and fathers with cash to spare.The most moving and romantic sequence in this movie is the scene at the cabin in the bathroom. Brenda (Louisa Krause) is high off her bottom on ecstasy and almost gets taken advantage of. LAWLS! but then she says "mom" twice which makes her abuser grow a big rubbery one. The final scene in which Shirley finds her Dad with his pants down with a sixteen year old was the perfect wrap up to this heartfelt story of love.I can surely say with confidence that this timeless classic will go down as one of the best family-oriented pictures of the century. I highly recommend this to children and rapists alike.

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