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Babysitters, The

EMAILPRINTPeace Arch Entertainment

Babysitters, The reviews
35
8.0 User Score:

Generally unfavorable reviews

Based on 11 critic reviews
How did we calculate this?

Based on 3 votes
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Movie Info

Genre(s): Drama

Written by: David Ross

Directed by: David Ross

Release Date:
Theatrical: May 9, 2008
DVD: February 2, 2010

Running Time: 90 minutes, Color

Origin: USA

Summary

RATING: R for disturbing strong sexual content, language and some drug use - involving teens

Starring John Leguizamo, Katherine Waterston, Cynthia Nixon, Andy Comeau, Lauren Birkell, and Louisa Krause

Sixteen-year-old Shirley Lyner is an honor student working as a babysitter and saving for college. She's developed a crush on Michael Beltran, the father of two of her babysitting regulars. One night on the way home, Michael and Shirley kiss, and he pays her a little something extra. They continue their affair, using the nights Shirley babysits to cover for their time together. Soon Shirley finds herself becoming a high school Heidi Fleiss, taking a percentage every time one of her friends babysits for the married men. But it's only a matter of time before Shirley starts to lose control of her operation and her tightly wound world begins to unravel. (Peace Arch Entertainment)

What The Critics Said

All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...

75

The Globe and Mail (Toronto) Kamal AL-Solaylee

If Leguizamo imports a hint of pathos into his performance, Waterston adds a dollop of menace to hers, delivering another of Ross's attacks on what separates girls from men. In this world, women are their own worst enemy.

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63

TV Guide Ken Fox

There's no getting around the fact that Ross's whole cynical premise is based on the lurid male assumption that nubile, college-bound teens have few qualms about selling themselves, a fantasy as deluded as the targets of Ross's barbed arrows.

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60

Los Angeles Times Mark Olsen

The film remains engaging in no small part because of the beguiling and enigmatic performance of Waterston, daughter of "Law & Order" star Sam Waterston. It is a shame she isn't given a better context in which to thrive.

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50

The Hollywood Reporter Frank Scheck

Attempting to be this generation's "Risky Business," The Babysitters is the sort of ribald morality tale that manages to feel sleazy and decorous at the same time.

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50

Variety Alissa Simon

It ultimately fails to deliver on the audacity of its premise. Neither truly original nor a guilty-pleasure genre spin, the picture lacks a hook for general audiences who may find the subject matter distasteful as presented.

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40

New York Daily News Joe Neumaier

It reads like a Cinemax special event, and as good as Leguizamo and Waterston are, the skeevy, fantasy-fulfillment plot that drives David Ross' movie is uncomfortably risky business.

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33

Entertainment Weekly Owen Gleiberman

The premise is out of '70s porn, and so is the overbroad satire and almost total lack of conviction.

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30

Village Voice Ed Gonzalez

Ultimately, the film's view of female self-loathing and girl-on-girl exploitation is woefully reductive and painful.

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30

The New York Times Stephen Holden

Shirley’s instant metamorphosis from insecure high school student to ruthless madam is ludicrous in spite of the best efforts of the talented Ms. Waterston to convince you otherwise. The Babysitters has the increasingly jerky momentum of a film that was butchered in the cutting room, sacrificing continuity and character development to whip the plot forward.

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25

New York Post Kyle Smith

I'd call it a depressing soft-core porn flick, but that overstates its titillation factor. Mainly it's just icky.

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0

Washington Post Ann Hornaday

A special place in purgatory must be reserved for John Leguizamo, who produced and stars in The Babysitters, a loathsome slice of exploitation at its most cynical and crass.

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What Our Users Said

The average user rating for this movie is 8.0 (out of 10) based on 3 User Votes

Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

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