The Babysitters (2008)

Lack of good storyline.

everything you have heard about this movie is true.

It is both painfully honest and laugh-out-loud funny at the same time.

It really made me laugh, but for some moments I was tearing up because I could relate so much.

Although a predictable storyline, the characters were more engaging then a typical movie of this genre.

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.

This movie was available on Netflix streaming. I wanted to watch something meaningless in spare time when I had a few minutes to kill. So I saw it in 4 or 5 sittings.So the movie begins as just another slice of urban life, parents go to work, kids go to school, and some of the girls get babysitting jobs in the evening. But then one man in his 40s gets sweet on his babysitter. She is taken completely by surprise at his advances, but soon relaxes and enjoys the attention. She is surprised when he gives her a wad of money for her "babysitting", $200 in all.So he gets hooked on his young lover and after a few $200 nights she realizes this can be profitable for her and a select few of her close friends. The word spreads from guy to guy, the price for the "babysitting service" goes up to $300. The girl who organized it all gets her 20% and soon business is in full swing.Of course there has to be a downside to all this, and that is the moral of the whole movie, teenage girls in high school can't get into the prostitution business without some competition and finally some breakdowns fueled by guilt.Overall it is well made and well acted. The daughter of veteran actor Sam Waterston is the lead girl, and the only one who bares her chest during the movie. Even though the story involved "underage" girls, in reality they were all in their 20s, and the Waterston girl was 26 during filming.

I marked it high because of the original script idea and the great acting, but I have to say that the ending could have been better.It is an audacious concept: babysitting teenagers are acting as high pay prostitutes for the fathers that drive them home. I felt that the high school teens were much too eager to have sex with strangers and that the wives were terrible if they didn't smell anything suspicious. In the end it all comes down, as it would be expected, but it unravels the complex feelings underneath in the process. The girls are all beautiful, Katherine Waterson plays great; John Leguizamo again brings great quality to a movie; the direction is really good. While the film has a great story to tell, I felt that the script was a bit naive.Bottom line: it is a tensioned, raw even, autopsy of the real suburb feelings: the taken for granted wives, the ignored teenagers and the powerful urges of the overworked middle aged men, overlooked by their spouses.