Synopsis
Seventeen-year-old Shirley is a good student who works as a babysitter in order to make money for college. One night Michael, a father Shirley works for, confesses he's unhappy with married life. Shirley has a crush on Michael, and seizes this moment to kiss him. Michael is so happy he presents Shirley with a big tip, which gives her an idea. Shirley plans to make extra money by setting up her teenage friends with other unhappy fathers.
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Cast
- John LeguizamoMichael Beltran
- Katherine WaterstonShirley Lyner
- Cynthia NixonGail Beltran
- Andy ComeauJerry Tuchman
- Denis O'HareStan Lyner
- Lauren BirkellMelissa Rowan
- Louisa KrauseBrenda Woodberg
- Halley Wegryn GrossNadine Woodberg
- Ann DowdTammy Lyner
- Spencer Treat ClarkScott Miral
Recommendations
- 75
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)
If Leguizamo imports a hint of pathos into his performance, Waterston adds a dollop of menace to hers, delivering another of Ross's attacks on what separates girls from men. In this world, women are their own worst enemy. - 63
TV Guide Magazine
There's no getting around the fact that Ross's whole cynical premise is based on the lurid male assumption that nubile, college-bound teens have few qualms about selling themselves, a fantasy as deluded as the targets of Ross's barbed arrows. - 60
Los Angeles Times
The film remains engaging in no small part because of the beguiling and enigmatic performance of Waterston, daughter of "Law & Order" star Sam Waterston. It is a shame she isn't given a better context in which to thrive. - 50
The Hollywood Reporter
Attempting to be this generation's "Risky Business," The Babysitters is the sort of ribald morality tale that manages to feel sleazy and decorous at the same time. - 50
Variety
It ultimately fails to deliver on the audacity of its premise. Neither truly original nor a guilty-pleasure genre spin, the picture lacks a hook for general audiences who may find the subject matter distasteful as presented. - 33
Entertainment Weekly
The premise is out of '70s porn, and so is the overbroad satire and almost total lack of conviction. - 30
Village Voice
Ultimately, the film's view of female self-loathing and girl-on-girl exploitation is woefully reductive and painful. - 30
The New York Times
Shirley’s instant metamorphosis from insecure high school student to ruthless madam is ludicrous in spite of the best efforts of the talented Ms. Waterston to convince you otherwise. The Babysitters has the increasingly jerky momentum of a film that was butchered in the cutting room, sacrificing continuity and character development to whip the plot forward.
