Adventures in Babysitting (1987)
She thought babysitting was easy money - until she started hanging out with the Andersons.
Starring: Elisabeth Shue, Keith Coogan, Anthony Rapp, Maia Brewton, Calvin Levels, Vincent D'Onofrio, Penelope Ann Miller
Director: Chris Columbus
Running Time: 98 minutes
US MPAA rating: N/AUK BBFC rating: 12
Adventure, Comedy, Family
On DVD Elisabeth Shue stars as Chris Parker, an attractive high-school senior. When her boyfriend Mike (Bradley Whitford) cancels their big date, she finds herself with her evening free. So she agrees to babysit for pubescent teen Brad Anderson (Keith Coogan) and his younger Thor-obsessed sister Sara (Maia Brewton). No sooner is she settling in for a quiet evening than Chris gets a phone call from her short-sighted friend Brenda (Penelope Ann Miller), who has run away from home and is now marooned at a seedy bus station in the city. Under duress, Chris agrees to help and her two charges insist on joining her for the trip. Before they can leave, Brad's equally sex-mad friend Daryl (Anthony Rapp) blackmails Chris into taking him too.
The three children and the babysitter set off for the city, a trip that should only take an hour, but trouble soon strikes in the form of a flat tyre. Typically, there is no spare so they have to depend on the kindness of a very strange tow-truck driver (John Ford Noonan). When he suddenly berserk because of the antics of his wife with another man, Chris and the kids have to abandon both him and their car, taking refuge in another car parked nearby. As that car drives away, they discover that their chauffeur doesn't own it - they are in a stolen car. And from there, their night is only going to get worse as their car-thief friend leads them into the heart of a gang of crooks.
This rollicking family comedy is undemanding but fun, with plenty of action and lots of one-liners. The main players all fit their roles well, and the children do a fine job of providing many of the laughs. With plenty of stunts, chases and occasional slapstick, the flimsy plot is easily overlooked - the story is less important than the action in this film. Although the hair, clothes, music and just about everything else is wholly 1980s, the film remains largely worthwhile because the humour and action hasn't dated at all badly.
Features a cameo from Grammy Award-winning blues guitarist Albert Collins as himself.
DVD Extras: There are no extras with this basic single-disc release.
It's Got: Some very funny moments.
It Needs: To be watched without great expectations.
Alternatives: Back to the Future, The Goonies, Spy Kids.
Summary: 1980's family adventure that has held up surprisingly well over the years.
Review by Andrea Chee
Review Date: 20th June 2003
External Links
Adventures in Babysitting at the IMDB
