Adventures in Babysitting

1987 "She thought babysitting was easy money - until she started hanging out with the Andersons."
6.9| 1h42m| PG-13| en| More Info
Released: 01 July 1987 Released
Producted By: Silver Screen Partners III
Country: United States of America
Budget: 0
Revenue: 0
Official Website:
Info

When plans with her boyfriend fall through, high school senior Chris Parker ends up babysitting the Anderson kids, Brad and Sara. What should be a quiet night in, however, turns into a series of ridiculous exploits, starting when they leave the house to pick up Chris' friend Brenda. Soon, Brad's buddy Daryl is involved, and the group must contend with car thieves, blues musicians and much more.

Genre

Comedy

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Director

Chris Columbus

Production Companies

Silver Screen Partners III

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Adventures in Babysitting Audience Reviews

SpuffyWeb Sadly Over-hyped
FirstWitch A movie that not only functions as a solid scarefest but a razor-sharp satire.
Geraldine The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.
Logan By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.
SnoopyStyle Chris Parker (Elisabeth Shue)'s big anniversary date gets canceled at the last minute by boyfriend Mike (Bradley Whitford). With nothing to do, she goes to babysit Thor obsessed little Sara Anderson (Maia Brewton). Her geeky brother Brad (Keith Coogan) is in love with Chris. His nerd friend Daryl Coopersmith (Anthony Rapp) comes over. Chris' friend Brenda (Penelope Ann Miller) tried to run away from home and is left penniless in downtown Chicago. Chris drives downtown and is forced to take along the three kids. She gets a flat tire and the adventures in babysitting begin.This is a second rate John Hughes wannabe movie. There's even a musical interlude although it's not really done right. It has the distinction of being Chris Columbus' first directing effort who would also direct similar movies like Home Alone. Elisabeth Shue is likable enough but she's not really America's sweetheart type. She's into her 20s by then and a bit too old to play a teen. It's basically a harmless kid movie playing up the suburb downtown divide. Shue is kind of broad with her naivety but there are a few chuckles.
Claudio Carvalho In the suburbs of Chicago, the seventeen year-old Chris Parker (Elisabeth Shue) is in love with her boyfriend Mike (Bradley Whitford). When Mike stands her up and cancels their dinner in Chicago, Chris accepts to babysit the siblings Sara (Maia Brewton) and Brad (Keith Coogan). But her friend Brenda (Penelope Ann Miller) calls her telling that she decided to run away home but now she has repented; she begs Chris to rescue her from the bus station in downtown Chicago. Chris makes a deal with Sara and Brad and when she is ready to drive to downtown, Brad's friend Daryl (Anthony Rapp) overhears the negotiation and blackmails Chris to go with them. However, when they are on the expressway, Chris has a flat tire and she realizes that she has forgotten her purse in the house. The mechanic Pruitt (John Ford Noonan) stops this tow truck and offers to truck the car to his garage. Chris sees no other option and accepts the offer in the beginning of an unforgettable night of adventures in Chicago."Adventures in Babysitting" is one of those adorable cult-movies for the entire life. I saw this movie in the 80's and since then, it has become one of my top movies ever. There are unforgettable scenes and maybe my favorite is when Albert Collins says that nobody leaves the club without singing a blues. The 25th anniversary Blu-Ray is really a worthwhile shopping. My vote is nine.Title (Brazil): "Uma Noite de Aventuras" ("One Night of Adventures")
Ayal Oren No it's not an original, in fact it follows the tradition started with brilliant movies such as After Hours and Into the Night and carried all the way to Date Night of more recent fame. The basic idea is to take an unsuspecting fairly well to do character (gender is almost not important) and whisk him/her/them away from their comfort zone. The general usage of the night is common in this sub genre. Well in this case we've got the very lovely Elisabeth Shue as a babysitter with three younger kids tagging along from the suburbs into the heart of the city's night life.So the starting point is not an original one, and neither is the plot. But Chris Columbus does what he knows best, he speeds up the story and extract every bit of charm his young stars have. And since they do have loads of charm, and Elisabeth Shue rarely looked better , it does work. Most of the characters are very undeveloped not to say shallow and cartoonish but some of those cartoons do work and the whole experience is rather enjoyable even if it's very far from a masterpiece. One big plus - everybody in it knows they're not making a masterpiece being straight forward is a plus in my book. I've seen this movie four or five times (only on TV) and always stayed through, it does say something.
Shawn Watson Adventures in Babysitting is one of those movies that all of the kids back in the day saw apart from me. No particular reason, I just never got around to it. With the new Blu-ray I figured now would be right time to catch up on what I missed.It's not a John Hughes movie, but it does have a similar aesthetic and is set in a cold, snowy Chicago (a common Hughes theme), and it's the director debut of Chris Columbus who worked with Hughes on the first two Home Alone movies. Babysitting is quite similar in that is has a bunch of kids/teens getting into all kinds of hi-jinks while evading and outsmarting crooked grown-ups.Elizabeth Shue plays Chris Parker (no relation to Jennifer Parker from BTTF) a girl who has been stood-up by her sleazeball boyfriend and ends up babysitting for a wealthy couple while they go hob-nobbing in the city. Though content to sit in the house all night she gets a frantic call from her friend Brenda (Penelope Ann Miller) who is trapped in an inner city bus station and needs rescued. Multiple detours and deviations make the rescue no easy task. I guess in this sense the movie feels a little bit like Planes, Trains and Automobiles.It's all inoffensive and good-natured, though I was surprised to hear a couple of F-bombs in there, and some of the dialogue is a little raunchy. Babysitting is no classic, but has lasting appeal and is a fun ride. Michael Kamen also provides a score which sounds like a Die Hard prototype, lending a little more weight to the adventure than would be typical. Stay watching until after the credits for an extra scene.