The Sitter

Yet another movie that critics got wrong in 2011, I present you with The Sitter. In a year with tons of great comedies and also its fair share of terrible comedies, The Sitter doesnt necessarily take the crown, but it is still damn funny. It stars Jonah Hill playing the role he does in almost every movie (the sarcastic lovable d-bag) including his breakout hit, Superbad. He ends up having to babysit this trio of children for the night when he gets a call from his girlfriend begging him to come to this party and she will "reward" him.


Ah...what men will do for a lady...


Anyways, one thing leads to another and the night ends up going horribly wrong, so badly so that I was actually reminded of The Hangover. The plot follows the path that most of these "crazy-night" movies do, except for the addition of the three kids along for the ride. At first I was startled by the amount of danger that these kids were placed in, not to mention the vulgarity, but then I remembered that this was an R-rated movie and that Kick-Ass is far worse. 


And my word do these kids shine

Rodrigo, Blithe, and Slater

In a year where child actors have astounded me (Modern Family on TV, Super 8, Crazy Stupid Love), these kids are certainly some of the funniest. Especially the little girl Blithe, played by Landry Bender, who thinks she is an up-and-coming Paris Hilton or Kim Kardashian in the movie. She truly leads to some hilarious moments in the movie. While she may be the star, the other kids do exceptional, although, their material is not as strong as hers. Particularly Rodrigo. His parts are funny, but in context to the movie, they are not as funny as they should be. 

"Dont f*** with me Rodrigo"

As always, Jonah Hill provides most of the comedy as the lazy Noah simply by the way he delivers his lines. So sarcastic but yet so serious. An example: 


Black Lady: "Ima help you out Noah cause I learned tonight that you have some HUGE balls for a white boy."


Noah: "Yeah. Cant even buy underwear. My balls are too big"


 It amazes me how serious the kids stay when he says something funny right in front of them. I wonder how many takes they needed before the kids would stop giggling. I think there is probably a good blooper reel hiding somewhere on the Blu-Ray release.

"Im the sit-on-the-couch-and-eat-a-burrito-and-do-what-I-say-or-Ill-kill-you
type of babysitter. GASP"

What surprised me the most about the movie though, is how touching it was in a couple parts. Without revealing anything, each of the kids has something that is pretty messed up about them and through a string of scattered heart-to-hearts with their new babysitter, they learn that there is really nothing wrong with them. Meanwhile Noah slowly starts to realize how big of a jerk he is and how big of a mess he has gotten these kids into. 


If you are looking for some laughs then may I suggest what will most likely be the last R-rated comedy of 2011. Let The Sitter watch over you for a couple hours. 


Pros:

• Great script that is written perfectly for Jonah Hill
• The kids are awesome. Blithe steals the show and had me gasping for air at times
• Hardly any jokes fall flat
• Consistently moving forward, hardly any scenes that feel like they werent necessary
• Always my favorite: contains a bunch of great one-liners
• Surprisingly heartfelt at parts and even more surprising is that these parts are handled well rather than being corny
• Pretty good soundtrack

Cons:

• Some of the subplots with Noah's dad feel a bit forced on
• Rodrigo's parts should have been funnier. I cant quite put my finger on it, but something prohibits them from being that way
• Shocking how much danger these kids are placed into. Some parts were almost too much

Rath's Review Score: 8/10