The Sitter
I'm not going to say that The Sitter was any good. It was ok. Pretty entertaining at times, at other times it was absolutely grating- taking that raunchy/sweet gig to an annoying level. I will say this though: there was something refreshing about the movie. The filmmakers didn't feel the need to tie up all the loose ends. The characters run amok with very few consequences. Whether Noah- the titular babysitter played by Jonah Hill- and the brat pack he's left to babysit actually get away with all the madness they create is left hanging. Which is good. The movie is absurd. To try and tie things up would be far too serious a step for such a ridiculous movie. Will Noah get away with everything that's happened? Who cares. He did for the span of the movie and that's all that's important.
Now this may all seem hypocritical. I don't recall whether I've taken the 2x4 to other movies for not tying up all the plot strands. I may have and I'll stand by it. Usually this type of thing bothers me more in movies that try to tidy everything up and fail to do so. But The Sitter isn't concerned with trying to make a good movie where everything makes sense and represents at least a parallel world to real life, no director David Gordon Green and crew are interested in making a fun movie where a whole bunch of shit happens and everything somehow ends up ok. Does Noah lose a stash of stolen drugs? Yep. Do both a diamond store and fancy restaurant's bathroom get blown up? Yep. Does a car and some Bat Mitzvah money get stolen? Yep. Do they main characters suffer any real, long-term consequences? Nope. And you know what? That's ok. It's actually fine for filmmakers not to take their movie so seriously.
Again, just because I liked that aspect of the film doesn't mean I think it was good. Like I said, it was ok at best. And at worst it was kind of shitty. But I enjoyed it- on some level- for the most part. Mostly, it offered some cheap laughs. Most courtesy of Jonah Hill. He doesn't blaze a new trail for himself as an actor here. He's the usual crass, all-bark-no-bite, semi-loser who doesn't know how uncool he is, but still has a heart of gold under that jackass facade. The caliber of jokes he's charged with pulling off come easily for Hill- the motormouthed stream of put downs and geeky brashness. So in other words, if you liked Hill's character in... say... Funny People or Superbad, then you'll probably find him at least somewhat entertaining here. But, as it often happens in these types of movies, there's little beyond Hill to keep this thing afloat. The only other one who gives a great turn is Sam Rockwell as the likely gay drug lord from whom one of Noah's charges steals a dinosaur egg's worth of blow (the egg is his idea of high-end packaging). Beyond that, the movie doesn't have a lot going for it.
I should say this though, at least the child actors they recruited did have some acting talent. Far too often, filmmakers in a movie of this caliber opt for looks over talent. These three kids could act... too bad they were given such uninspired material.
Actually pretty much everyone was given uninspired material to work with. This is a typical shit constantly hitting the fan movie. The gimmick that is supposed to be the comedic hook is that someone of Hill's typical character profile is left to interact with smarter-than-their-years tykes. Sure, Noah's in charge...riiiiight. It does net a few laughs, but just when things work up to their madcap best, the filmmakers decide they should add a heaping help of neo-Full House to the story. Blithe (a scene-stealing Landry Bender) is obsessed with the famous-for-being-famous crowd an aspires to be nothing more than the next Paris Hilton or Kim Kardashian. Slater (Max Records of Where the Wild Things Are fame) is a gay kid who doesn't want to be gay and, as such, is overcome with anxiety. And then there's Rodrigo (Kevin Hernandez), the family's adopted South American son. He likes to run away and blow things up. In turn, Noah helps each of these youngsters get to the root of their issues and help them understand that it's ok to be just who they are. Hell, Noah is even out to help his absolute bitch of a girlfriend (Joey Lauren Adams clone, Ari Graynor) come to grips with who she is. Nice work, Danny Tanner. Barf. Could have done without all the contrived heart and good feeling. The movie is at it's best when shit gets destroyed. Everything is out of control. And when Jonah Hill and Sam Rockwell (as an aside, I've never seen a movie in which Rockwell phones it in. Ever. From little-seen indies such as Box of Moonlight to Oscar-bait such as Frost/Nixon to this idiotic fare, Rockwell always seems to bring his A-game. Kudos, my man, kudos.) are sparring or hugging it out on screen. Beyond that, the movie is lacking. Luckily, there is just enough chaos to make The Sitter watchable. Unfortunately, Green and crew failed to heed the time-honored lesson- too much sugar (or artificial sweetener as this case would have it) can make a dish go bad.
Grade: B-
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