I wasn’t immediately taken to The Sitter as we’re introduced to Noah Griffith (Jonah Hill), a shlubby nobody who, in the opening moments, is performing oral sex on Marisa Lewis (Ari Graynor), a girl merely using him for her own benefit and pushing him out the door once she gets what she wants. Noah describes her as his “girlfriend,” but she’s clearly anything but.
With Noah standing on Marisa’s front porch, we’re only about five minutes into the film and despite the short 81-minute running time, I’m already beginning to dread my already low expectations may not have been set low enough. Cue Slick Rick’s “Children’s Story” playing over the film’s opening credits and director David Gordon Green (Pineapple Express) is already softening me up. It’s amazing what a good song can do.
Noah still lives at home with his mother (Jessica Hecht) while his father (Bruce Altman) is making due in the city, married with a kid to Noah’s childhood babysitter. The result of this family dynamic is a mother who never gets out and a son that seems keen on living the rest of his life on the couch in front of the television. However, at least for one night, all that will all change as Noah is called into action to babysit three children so his mom can go out and have a good time.
The children Noah has been assigned consist of Slater (Max Records from Where the Wild Things Are) who is a quiet kid dependent on anti-depressants, Blithe (Landry Bender) who’s an energetic little girl determined to live the life of the celebrities she sees on TMZ and the rebellious Rodrigo (Kevin Hernandez) who was adopted from El Salvador and has an interest in blowing up toilets. Obviously each brings a specific plot developing skill set to the picture, but with that in mind, I appreciated the fact that even the most cloying aspects of the story weren’t annoying as The Sitter, which is essentially an R-rated version of Adventures in Babysitting, embraces the darker elements of its story more than it’s concerned with the moral of it all.
The wheels of the story are set in motion when Noah is called on, once again, by Marisa who calls from a party, dangling the promise of sex in front of Noah if he brings her a “ticket” of cocaine. Pathetic enough to bite, Noah piles the kids into the minivan and makes way for the friend-obsessed drug dealer Karl played by Sam Rockwell. Add to this an abrasive run-in with someone Noah knew from college, a moment where he’s assumed to have kidnapped Blithe as they buy her a new pair of underwear and a helping hand from Method Man and you have a potpourri of random moments that all add up to a rather enjoyable time waster of a comedy.
Walking into The Sitter I actually had no idea it was directed by David Gordon Green, a director that has never really impressed me, though from what I understand I haven’t seen his best work yet, which is said to include George Washington and Undertow. As far as the films of his I have seen, The Sitter is certainly funnier than Your Highness (which was more or less a nightmare) and I enjoyed it even more than Pineapple Express, which I didn’t find as appealing as most did.
The Sitter isn’t the most inventive of comedies, depending on moments of potty humor, jokes we’ve seen in films of a similar nature and a slew of eccentric and unrealistic characters filling up the landscape. Yet, considering the brisk running time and the fact it doesn’t dwell on trying to wrap everything up with a nice, neat bow, I found it to be a decent breath of R-rated fresh air.
