The Babysitters
Encyclopedia
The Babysitters is a 2007 independent film
drama directed by David Ross. It stars John Leguizamo
, Cynthia Nixon
and Katherine Waterston. The story follows a teenager who turns her babysitting
service into a call girl
service for married men after fooling around with one of her customers.
Flash back to several months prior, Shirley is obsessively arranging items in her room when Michael Beltran picks her up for a babysitting job. She shows obvious signs of being attracted to him. After the babysitting is finished, Michael drives Shirley home and they stop into a diner to eat, where they flirt heavily and Michael admits frustration with how his wife has changed and Shirley says she doesn’t have a boyfriend because she finds guys her age to be too immature. She also admits to being an obsessive compulsive cleaner and organizer.
At school we meet Shirley’s friends: Melissa, a confident, sarcastic junior trying to get into Brown a year early, and Brenda, a very chatty girl who seems to have confidence problems.
The next babysitting outing, Michael and his wife Gail are meeting with Michael’s friend Jerry, who has a business offer for Michael. Gail is frustrated that Michael wants to take it, while Michael gets curious about an abandoned train yard behind the restaurant that Gail shows no interest in. When Michael is driving Shirley home that night, they stop at the train yard and explore it, eventually sharing a kiss. Michael pays her some extra money not to tell anyone about the kiss. On the next babysitting job, they actually have sex.
At school Melissa eventually wrings the truth about the babysitting outings from Shirley, who admits the extra money is nice. At the same time Michael confesses the wrongdoing to Jerry, who sympathizes with him. Soon, Michael asks Shirley if any of her other friends can “babysit” and Melissa volunteers. After Melissa’s outing, Shirley asks her for 20% of the money as her cut, which Melissa agrees is fair. They eventually convince Brenda to take a babysitting job and Melissa pushes Shirley not to warn her about the expected sex. At first it shocks Brenda, but the man with her is very reserved and nervous, eventually boosting Brenda’s confidence. The next day, Brenda agrees to the terms and the girls set up a working business, going so far as to have business cards printed up. Meanwhile, Michael is continuing to have trouble at his job and learns that Shirley is babysitting for others besides him, which makes him uncomfortable. His wife is suspicious of his continual long nights at the office, but he denies wrongdoing.
The first problem arises when Brenda invites her younger stepsister Nadine into the group without checking with Shirley. Nadine is much more rough and aggressive than Brenda and questions why Shirley gets a cut. She soon starts her own competing business behind Shirley’s back, and Shirley starts to lose customers while seeing Nadine and her friends wearing designer clothes and jewelry. Melissa suggests breaking into her locker to find proof and they enlist Michael’s help. When they find no evidence in Nadine’s locker, they vandalize the entire school to cover their tracks, making sure to target the lockers of other girls who were working with Nadine. Shirley meets with all of them and threatens more punishments unless they follow the rules. After the meeting, Melissa presents Shirley with fake permission slips for a trip to Jerry’s cabin for a weekend. The girls will be going under the make-believe of a school trip, while the men will be there on a “business retreat”.
At the party, Michael is increasingly uncomfortable with Shirley being with other guys while Jerry questions why Michael doesn’t go with any of the other girls. Jerry has supplied drugs at the party, and Brenda has a negative reaction to the seventh heaven. Jerry attempts to rape her, but along with Brenda’s verbal resistance and cries for her mother, decides not to proceed.
At her next babysitting job, Brenda has a collapse and runs out. When Shirley talks to her, Brenda says she wants out, which Shirley agrees with, but Melissa privately expresses worry that Brenda will talk. These worries are increased when Melissa is accepted to Brown. Michael’s wife confronts him about his distance and that he has been lying about his job situation, since he was just taken off of a major project. Michael finally voices some of his frustrations about the marriage, while Gail responds with hers.
On her own initiative, Melissa has several of their customers attack and threaten Brenda’s brother. Nadine assures Brenda that everything will be fine, while Shirley gets angry at Melissa and tries unsuccessfully to contact Brenda. Michael and Shirley, out at the trains again, have an argument where Michael tries to encourage Shirley to run away with him, while Shirley reminds him that this is just business and he’s cheating himself. He’s forced to abandon her when a cop shows up, and Shirley tries to contact Brenda for a ride. Upon hearing that Nadine is babysitting without her knowledge, she calls Melissa, who is with Jerry, and they go to confront her. They interrupt Nadine at a parking garage and nearly throw her off the roof. At that point, Shirley discovers that it is her own father that is with Nadine.
The scene cuts out to another voiceover by Shirley, who says that everything stopped and they all have to live with the consequences, though it is implied that no legal action resulted. The last scene is of Shirley parking across the street from Michael's house. She sees Michael interacting with his family, apparently trying to mend the gap.
reported that 31% of critics gave the film positive reviews, based on 26 reviews. Metacritic
reported the film had an average score of 35 out of 100, based on 10 reviews.
Independent film
An independent film, or indie film, is a professional film production resulting in a feature film that is produced mostly or completely outside of the major film studio system. In addition to being produced and distributed by independent entertainment companies, independent films are also produced...
drama directed by David Ross. It stars John Leguizamo
John Leguizamo
Jonathan Alberto "John" Leguizamo is an Colombian-American actor, producer, voice artist, and comedian.-Early life:...
, Cynthia Nixon
Cynthia Nixon
Cynthia Ellen Nixon is an American actress, known for her portrayal of Miranda Hobbes in the HBO series Sex and the City . She has received two Screen Actors Guild Awards, two Emmy Awards, a Tony Award, and a Grammy Award....
and Katherine Waterston. The story follows a teenager who turns her babysitting
Babysitting
Babysitting is the practice of temporarily caring for a child on behalf of the child's parents. Babysitting is commonly performed as an odd job by teenagers for extra money.-General:...
service into a call girl
Call girl
A call girl or female escort is a sex worker who is not visible to the general public; nor does she usually work in an institution like a brothel, although she may be employed by an escort agency...
service for married men after fooling around with one of her customers.
Plot
The movie begins with a voice over by Shirley Lyner (Waterson) as we see a cabin with mostly middle-aged men and teenage girls in various states of undress. In the narration she explains that this is her babysitting service, and then dismisses violence as a cause for why she started it.Flash back to several months prior, Shirley is obsessively arranging items in her room when Michael Beltran picks her up for a babysitting job. She shows obvious signs of being attracted to him. After the babysitting is finished, Michael drives Shirley home and they stop into a diner to eat, where they flirt heavily and Michael admits frustration with how his wife has changed and Shirley says she doesn’t have a boyfriend because she finds guys her age to be too immature. She also admits to being an obsessive compulsive cleaner and organizer.
At school we meet Shirley’s friends: Melissa, a confident, sarcastic junior trying to get into Brown a year early, and Brenda, a very chatty girl who seems to have confidence problems.
The next babysitting outing, Michael and his wife Gail are meeting with Michael’s friend Jerry, who has a business offer for Michael. Gail is frustrated that Michael wants to take it, while Michael gets curious about an abandoned train yard behind the restaurant that Gail shows no interest in. When Michael is driving Shirley home that night, they stop at the train yard and explore it, eventually sharing a kiss. Michael pays her some extra money not to tell anyone about the kiss. On the next babysitting job, they actually have sex.
At school Melissa eventually wrings the truth about the babysitting outings from Shirley, who admits the extra money is nice. At the same time Michael confesses the wrongdoing to Jerry, who sympathizes with him. Soon, Michael asks Shirley if any of her other friends can “babysit” and Melissa volunteers. After Melissa’s outing, Shirley asks her for 20% of the money as her cut, which Melissa agrees is fair. They eventually convince Brenda to take a babysitting job and Melissa pushes Shirley not to warn her about the expected sex. At first it shocks Brenda, but the man with her is very reserved and nervous, eventually boosting Brenda’s confidence. The next day, Brenda agrees to the terms and the girls set up a working business, going so far as to have business cards printed up. Meanwhile, Michael is continuing to have trouble at his job and learns that Shirley is babysitting for others besides him, which makes him uncomfortable. His wife is suspicious of his continual long nights at the office, but he denies wrongdoing.
The first problem arises when Brenda invites her younger stepsister Nadine into the group without checking with Shirley. Nadine is much more rough and aggressive than Brenda and questions why Shirley gets a cut. She soon starts her own competing business behind Shirley’s back, and Shirley starts to lose customers while seeing Nadine and her friends wearing designer clothes and jewelry. Melissa suggests breaking into her locker to find proof and they enlist Michael’s help. When they find no evidence in Nadine’s locker, they vandalize the entire school to cover their tracks, making sure to target the lockers of other girls who were working with Nadine. Shirley meets with all of them and threatens more punishments unless they follow the rules. After the meeting, Melissa presents Shirley with fake permission slips for a trip to Jerry’s cabin for a weekend. The girls will be going under the make-believe of a school trip, while the men will be there on a “business retreat”.
At the party, Michael is increasingly uncomfortable with Shirley being with other guys while Jerry questions why Michael doesn’t go with any of the other girls. Jerry has supplied drugs at the party, and Brenda has a negative reaction to the seventh heaven. Jerry attempts to rape her, but along with Brenda’s verbal resistance and cries for her mother, decides not to proceed.
At her next babysitting job, Brenda has a collapse and runs out. When Shirley talks to her, Brenda says she wants out, which Shirley agrees with, but Melissa privately expresses worry that Brenda will talk. These worries are increased when Melissa is accepted to Brown. Michael’s wife confronts him about his distance and that he has been lying about his job situation, since he was just taken off of a major project. Michael finally voices some of his frustrations about the marriage, while Gail responds with hers.
On her own initiative, Melissa has several of their customers attack and threaten Brenda’s brother. Nadine assures Brenda that everything will be fine, while Shirley gets angry at Melissa and tries unsuccessfully to contact Brenda. Michael and Shirley, out at the trains again, have an argument where Michael tries to encourage Shirley to run away with him, while Shirley reminds him that this is just business and he’s cheating himself. He’s forced to abandon her when a cop shows up, and Shirley tries to contact Brenda for a ride. Upon hearing that Nadine is babysitting without her knowledge, she calls Melissa, who is with Jerry, and they go to confront her. They interrupt Nadine at a parking garage and nearly throw her off the roof. At that point, Shirley discovers that it is her own father that is with Nadine.
The scene cuts out to another voiceover by Shirley, who says that everything stopped and they all have to live with the consequences, though it is implied that no legal action resulted. The last scene is of Shirley parking across the street from Michael's house. She sees Michael interacting with his family, apparently trying to mend the gap.
Critical reception
The film received generally negative reviews from critics. As of November 3, 2008, the review aggregator Rotten TomatoesRotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is a website devoted to reviews, information, and news of films—widely known as a film review aggregator. Its name derives from the cliché of audiences throwing tomatoes and other vegetables at a poor stage performance...
reported that 31% of critics gave the film positive reviews, based on 26 reviews. Metacritic
Metacritic
Metacritic.com is a website that collates reviews of music albums, games, movies, TV shows and DVDs. For each product, a numerical score from each review is obtained and the total is averaged. An excerpt of each review is provided along with a hyperlink to the source. Three colour codes of Green,...
reported the film had an average score of 35 out of 100, based on 10 reviews.
Soundtrack
There is currently no official soundtrack out.- 1. Ola Podrida- "The New Science"
- 2. Let's Go Sailing - "Too Many Stars"
- 3. Eugene- "21 People"
- 4. The PerceptionistsThe PerceptionistsThe Perceptionists are an American hip hop group on the Definitive Jux label. The group is made up of MCs Akrobatik and Mr Lif, along with DJ Fakts One. They hail from Boston, Massachusetts...
- "Party Hard" - 5. Eric V. Hachikian - "What What"
- 6. Big City- "Chedda"
- 7. The Besnard Lakes - "Disaster"
- 8. Anubian Lights- "Wild Winter"
- 9. Operator PleaseOperator PleaseOperator Please are an Australian pop band, originating on the Gold Coast of Queensland, in 2005. Their current lineup consists of vocalist and guitarist Amandah Wilkinson, drummer Tim Commandeur, keyboardist Chris Holland, Ashley McConnell on bass guitar, and violinist Taylor Henderson.The...
- "Ping Pong" - 10. Mother Hips - "Red Tandy"
- 11. The Bossmen - "On the Road"
- 12. The Freakwater - "Sap"
- 13. Sia FurlerSia FurlerSia Kate Isobelle Furler or simply Sia, is an Australian pop, downtempo, and jazz singer and songwriter. In 2000, her single, "Taken for Granted" was a top 10 hit in the United Kingdom. Her 2008 album, Some People Have Real Problems peaked in the top 30 on the Billboard 200...
and Chad Fischer - "Bye Bye Bye"