Film File - The Sitter

"I'm not Mary Poppins. Adult men don't babysit things!" Yes, they do - especially in Hollywood comedies. When the world's worst babysitter Noah Griffin (Jonah Hill) takes a trio of the world's worst kids on an overnight adventure through the streets of New York City, it's likely this won't be the usual Saturday night while the parents are at the pub kind of gig. Directed by David Gordon Green, of the critically subversive 'Eastbound & Down' and 'Pineapple Express', it's no surprise that this project is vulgar, envelope-pushing and raunchy. Right from the off, the situations encountered are a clear indication this is no Adam Sandler comedy with drug runs, bar fights and episodes of grand larceny. Its cast of characters includes a drug kingpin, his fast-talking associate, a highly sexed, coke-sniffing female and a collage of Big Apple eccentrics unlike any kiddie movie you'll have seen in the past few years. Hill, who emerged as a formidable comedic voice in the films, 'The 40-Year-Old Virgin', 'Knocked Up', and 'Superbad', and more recently for his dramatic performance opposite Brad Pitt in the critical and box-office hit 'Moneyball', is not your typical entertain-the-kids-no-matter-what kind of sitter. He's reluctant to take the sitting job, in fact, and would rather be doing anything else, especially if it involves slacking. Hill, who also serves as an executive producer on the film, worked closely with director Green to ensure a maximum of comedic and emotional impact. Noah is at a crossroads in his life, having been kicked out of school, he's dating a woman who doesn't treat him very well, and all he wants to do is stay home and watch TV - stuck in a groove about what to do with his life. Noah's best option is a quick babysitting stint, which he very reluctantly agrees to, and then only to help out his mother Sandy (Jessica Hecht), who's going on a blind date with a surgeon - set up by the parents of the kids Noah is to watch. The eldest kid, Slater (Max Records), aged 13, is riddled with anxiety and identity issues, for which he takes a disciplined regimen of pills. Then there's Blithe (Landry Bender), aged nine, who enjoys playing dress-up slathered with her mother's make-up and who twice sprays Noah in the mouth with a bottle of floral perfume at their first meeting. The terrible troika is completed by 10-year-old Rodrigo (Kevin Hernandez), a defiant mini-thug the family adopted in Mexico, and who is not happy unless he's blowing stuff up, literally. He also likes to pee at inappropriate times - another running gag that may wear too thin on some audiences. In fact, it is Rodrigo's theft of a priceless item from the lair of an eccentric drug kingpin that triggers an endless series of problems for his besieged sitter, Noah. In his quest for drugs from creepy dealer Karl (Sam Rockwell), and sex from from his repulsive girlfriend Marisa (Ari Gaynor), Noah and his terrible threesome find themselves barrelling across the streets and alleys of New York in a manner not found in any tourist guide. 'The Sitter' is definitely not to everybody's taste - no question. However, if you surrender to the vulgarity, the frequent tasteless jokes and the close to the bone racist aspects, it does deliver a few chuckles, and even a belly laugh or two.