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.
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.