Rent The Sitter (2011)

The Sitter review by Melissa Orcine - Cinema Paradiso

Noah Griffin (Jonah Hill) is a college dropout slacker who still lives with his mom. He has no responsibilities to attend to and he loves it that way. Until his mother asks him to babysit three precocious children for a night. It’s not that bad a gig; Noah will get paid right after. It’s just not a good idea to have Noah as ‘The Sitter’. Directed by David Gordon Green film is a remake of the 80’s Elisabeth Shue comedy classic ‘Adventures in Babysitting’, now with a male nanny at the fore. But with this gender switcheroo, does it work or not really? Or should the remake not have happened at all?

Jonah Hill is a funny guy but he can be way too harsh and sarcastic to come off as even sensitive. So how on earth he got cast as a manny (man nanny) to children is a riddle to the audience. But we can’t fault him for trying. This is an all-nighter comedy romp that is truly inspired by the 80’s slapdash comedy flicks of yore. It tries very hard to be edgy, raunchy comedy, and yet even with this much effort, it falls short.

‘The Sitter’ has the chaos down pat – the city of New York does pose as a threat to Noah and his wards, but they’re more victims of a kooky and kinky world. Confusing yes, and it’s by design, director David Gordon Green and writers Brian Gatewood and Alessandro Tanaka, make sure of that. The casting of Sam Rockwell as drug dealer Karl with a letter K is an inspired choice. He hams it up for most of the movie and enjoys most of the laughs. But Sam Rockwell can’t save film from its ruin.

Moral of the story: ‘The Sitter’ is a cautionary tale for mothers to choose their nannies wisely. Just because he looks like a teddy bear in Jonah Hill (pre-weight loss) doesn’t mean he is great with kids. We’re not talking about Winnie the Pooh here.