The Sitter

It´s possible not many of you have seen Martin Scorsese´s dark comedy After Hours from 1985. It was not a typical motion picture to be made by Scorsese, about a babysitter who gets in touble in NY. In a way it is a classic movie, for some unforgettable scenes. The babysitting theme has been used in several movies, but not one of them have delivered anything special. The Sitter seems to be a updated version of After Hours, with comedian Jonah Hill holding the steering wheel. Does The Sitter deliver a good time, or is it a waste of talent?

Noah ( Jonah Hill ) is a suspended college student, who lives with his mom. With no money and no big future plans, his mom hope he can straighten up his life. When his mom have to cancel going out, because Mrs. Pedulla ( Erin Daniels ) does not have a babysitter, he is asked to babysit for just one night. As he rings the doorbell of Peduella residence, he will soon understand what a nightmare that is waiting for him. Neurotic son Slater ( Max Records ) is 13 years old, and he sees a problem in everything. Daughter Blithe ( Landry Bender ) is a make up princess with a big mouth. And then we have adopted son Rodrigo ( Kevin Hernandez ), who is a pyromaniac and love to blow things up. Noah gets a phone call from ( what he thinks is his girlfriend ) Marisa ( Ari Graynor ). If he brings her cocaine to a party, she will have sex with him. Noah can´t say no to that, so take the three kids with him in the family´s car. As they arrive to drug dealer Karl ( Sam Rockwell ), Noah purchase the drugs and head off to meet Marisa. But when Noah finds out Rodrigo stolen an egg with cocaine from Karl, problems are about to get even bigger than before.

Let´s say this straight out. The Sitter is a stupid movie, but on the other hand, if you just want a comedy with low belt humour, this is a good choice. There are some funny scenes, like when we enter drug dealer Karl´s laboratory, with almost naked male bodybuilders with a gay rollerblade boy in paradise. Sam Rockwell works very well as Karl, a psycho who only cares about money. Or when Rodrigo stands on the dancefloor and pee all over a jewish party, classic. Jonah Hill is not a great actor, but as a babysitter he fits the character well, since he may be the worst babysitter ever. Ok, there are some bad moments also. Some of the actors does not give their best performance, it´s like they just try and look silly, and fails big time. Remember Leroy from Curb Your Enthusiasm? J.B. Smoove, he can deliver so much more than what he does here, he is usually very funny, wich is too bad. The Sitter does not go home as a winner, but it´s perfect while you have tacos and beer, and just want to laugh.

Rating: DDD