{"id":5727,"date":"2024-10-12T06:17:46","date_gmt":"2024-10-12T06:17:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/?p=5727"},"modified":"2024-10-12T20:02:14","modified_gmt":"2024-10-12T20:02:14","slug":"adventures-in-babysitting","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/2024\/10\/12\/adventures-in-babysitting\/","title":{"rendered":"Adventures in Babysitting"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"Adventures in Babysitting<\/strong> (1987)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Touchstone\/Action-Comedy\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 RT: 102 minutes\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Rated PG-13 (language, some violence and peril, sexual references)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Director: Chris Columbus\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Screenplay: David Simkins\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Music: Michael Kamen\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Cinematography: Ric Waite\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Release date: July 1, 1987 (US)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Cast: Elisabeth Shue, Maia Brewton, Keith Coogan, Anthony Rapp, Penelope Ann Miller, Bradley Whitford, Calvin Levels, Vincent Phillip D\u2019Onofrio, George Newbern, John Ford Noonan, John Davis Chandler, Ron Canada, Albert Collins, Linda Sorenson, Dan Ziskie.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Box Office: $34.3M (US)<\/p>\n

Rating<\/strong>: *** \u00bd<\/p>\n

\u00a0I had such a strong feeling about the teen comedy Adventures in Babysitting<\/strong> that I made a point of seeing it opening day, first show. It looked funny in the previews and I still had something of a crush on star Elisabeth Shue from The Karate Kid (1984).<\/p>\n

\u00a0Basically, it\u2019s After Hours for the teenage set. A babysitter and her three charges have a series of misadventures after getting stranded in the big, bad city (in this movie, Chicago). To put it simply, Adventures in Babysitting<\/strong> is one of the best teen comedies of the 80s. I still think it\u2019s riotously funny all these years later. Everything about it works. The script, by David Simkins (The Adventures of Brisco County Jr.), is well-written and intelligent. Chris Columbus, in his directorial debut, keeps it lively and good-natured. It has this air of innocence about it. I liked it so much that I saw it a second time with my cousin and his wife at an El Paso movie theater where the crowd seemed to really enjoy it. It\u2019s a fun movie.<\/p>\n

\u00a0After her boyfriend (Whitford, Billy Madison) bails out on their anniversary date to a fancy restaurant, high school senior Chris Parker (Shue) reluctantly accepts a babysitting gig. Originally, she was only supposed to watch 8YO Sarah (Brewton), but older brother Brad (Coogan, Hiding Out) decides to stick around after learning his crush will be babysitting.<\/p>\n

\u00a0Chris receives a frantic phone call from best friend Brenda (Miller, Kindergarten Cop) asking her to pick her up at the bus station where she ended up after a failed attempt to run away from home. The kids coerce Chris into taking them with her on what\u2019s supposed to be a quick in-and-out trip to the city. Joining them on this impromptu excursion is Daryl (Rapp, Dazed and Confused), Brad\u2019s sex-obsessed best friend. The trouble begins when they get a flat tire on the freeway. When they finally make it into the city, they almost immediately fun afoul of the leader (Chandler, The Outlaw Josie Wales) of a car theft ring. Chris must protect her charges from the bad guys while trying to make it to the garage where the car is being repaired.<\/p>\n

\u00a0Adventures in Babysitting<\/strong> is one of those movies that have a lot of good parts, but I think most would agree that the best is the scene in the blues club. Chris and the kids find themselves on stage forced to sing a number because \u201cnobody leaves this place without singing the blues.\u201d Hence, we get \u201cBabysitting Blues\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u00a0Another great thing about Adventures in Babysitting<\/strong> is that the kids are neither cloying in their cuteness nor totally obnoxious. They\u2019re actually pretty cool. Sarah is obsessed with the superhero Thor; she uses up all of Brad\u2019s acne cream to paint yet another portrait of the Norse god of thunder. This leads right into a great bit involving a garage mechanic (D\u2019Onofrio, Full Metal Jacket) who looks exactly like you-know-who. Brad is like any 15YO boy confronted with the object of his crush. He tries to impress; she sees him as a kid. Daryl is just plain hilarious. Like all boys his age, he\u2019s a little sex fiend. He\u2019s the best friend that all parents dread.<\/p>\n

\u00a0One of the movie\u2019s running gags is a Playboy centerfold that so closely resembles Chris, people think it\u2019s really her. Guess who brings the magazine on the trip in the first place? In the lead, Shue is terrific. She\u2019s cute and charming, but she\u2019s no dumb blonde. Chris may be out of her element in the Windy City, a far, FAR cry from the suburbs, but she\u2019s neither helpless nor ditzy. Ditzy would be Brenda who has her own set of experiences at the bus station, especially after her glasses are stolen and she can\u2019t see. Miller is quite funny in this movie. Whitford excels in playing preppy jerks; he was also the nemesis in Revenge of the Nerds II which came out less than two weeks after Adventures in Babysitting<\/strong>. How else would you describe a character who tools around in a red Camaro with a license plate that reads \u201cSO COOL\u201d? The operative term here is \u201ctool\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u00a0Some have criticized Adventures in Babysitting<\/strong> for its unrealistic depiction of life in the big city. To them I say, lighten up. It\u2019s a comedy; it\u2019s supposed to make you feel good. We all know that a confrontation with a street gang wouldn\u2019t end the same way in real life as it does here. It\u2019s like the comical depiction of a massive street riot at the end of Police Academy (1984). I like that Adventures in Babysitting<\/strong> paints a fantastical portrait of nighttime Chicago (it was shot primarily in Toronto, but never mind). It\u2019s still a dangerous place. The kids get chased several times by the bad guys. At one point, Sarah finds herself clinging for dear life to the side of a skyscraper. But Columbus makes it seems like a ride at an amusement park. I like that. I like that the one car thief (Levels) is an ally. I like that Chris gets help from a nice guy (Newbern, Father of the Bride) at a fraternity party. Not for one minute is Adventures in Babysitting<\/strong> believable, but does it need to be? No, absolutely not! Summers are made for silly teen comedies that leaving you feeling like you\u2019ve gotten your money\u2019s worth. I can\u2019t think of a single negative thing to say about this movie. It\u2019s just great!<\/p>\n

TRIVIA TIDBITS: It\u2019s worth noting that Adventures in Babysitting<\/strong> is the first PG-13 movie released by Disney or any of its divisions. D\u2019Onofrio also appeared in Full Metal Jacket as Private Pyle that summer. Talk about two radically different roles.\"\"<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Adventures in Babysitting (1987)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Touchstone\/Action-Comedy\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 RT: 102 minutes\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Rated PG-13 (language, some violence and peril, sexual references)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Director: Chris Columbus\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Screenplay: David Simkins\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Music: Michael Kamen\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Cinematography: Ric Waite\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Release date: July 1, 1987 (US)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Cast: Elisabeth Shue, Maia Brewton, Keith Coogan, Anthony Rapp, Penelope Ann Miller, Bradley Whitford, Calvin Levels, Vincent Phillip D\u2019Onofrio, George […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":5758,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5727","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-comedies"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/Adventures-in-Babysitting-P.jpg?fit=620%2C348&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5727","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5727"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5727\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5759,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5727\/revisions\/5759"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5758"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5727"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5727"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5727"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}