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List Price: $9.99 | | Label: Buena Vista Pictures
Salesrank: 3589
Released: January 18, 2000 |
| Our Price: $3.85 |
| Used Price: $2.41 |
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MPAA Rating: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Media: DVD |
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Editorial Review:
Chris Parker (Elisabeth Shue) agrees to babysit after her "dream" date stands her up. Expecting a dull evening, Chris settles down with three kids for a night of TV ... and boredom. But when her frantic friend Brenda calls and pleads to be rescued from the bus station in downtown Chicago, the evening soon explodes into an endless whirl of hair-raising adventures! Babysitter and kids leave their safe suburban surroundings and head for the heart of the big city, never imagining how terrifyingly funny their expedition will become.
Description of Adventures in Babysitting:
Way before she grabbed an Oscar nomination for her searing performance as a world-weary prostitute in Leaving Las Vegas, Elisabeth Shue was known as one of the squeaky-clean actresses of the '80s. Having made a splash in The Karate Kid and the '60s-nostalgia TV series Call to Glory, Shue cemented her good-girl reputation with the charming but badly titled Adventures in Babysitting. Set in the John Hughes-style suburbs of Chicago, the titular adventures follow babysitter Chris (Shue), who agrees to watch the Anderson kids (Keith Coogan and Maia Brewton) when her boyfriend cancels their anniversary date. All is quiet on the home front until Chris is called upon to rescue her best friend (Penelope Ann Miller, also doing good-girl duty) from the seedy downtown bus station. She can't leave the kids, and she can't leave her friend alone in the big bad city, so she packs everyone in the station wagon and heads into Chicago. Screwball craziness begins as they encounter car thieves, knife-wielding gangs, gun-toting truck drivers, and, worst of all, Chris's duplicitous boyfriend. It's hardly mature entertainment, but Shue makes it work; when she wins over the audience at a blues club with her improv singing, you'll be won over, too. In his directorial debut, Chris Columbus (who later went on to helm the sap-fests Mrs. Doubtfire and Home Alone) gently skewers the suburbia white-bread mindset of the main characters, and plays up the comedy over the schmaltz with a subtlety of which he now seems incapable; the near romance between Shue and Coogan is played lightly and adorably. Look for brief appearances by art-house faves Lolita Davidovich as a college party girl and Vincent D'Onofrio as an unlikely savior. --Mark Englehart
Adventures in Babysitting Reviews:
I grew up with it, so will my kids! 
2009-08-31 - This movie was huge when I was a child in the 80s. It became a staple in my house then (yes, on BetaMax in those days) and is still a staple now in the 21st century! Funny and entertaining plot and actors without tons of horrible language or situations. I think the only possiblity for negative feedback would be the reference to Playboy magazine in part of it. No swearing or nudity.. very wholesome family movie! I still watch it (despite the fact that I have it memorized now) and still enjoy it immensely! Definately buy this one! :) A++++!
Classic
2009-07-31 - I can watch this movie over and over and over. Plus being from chicago, love the shots!
A Laugh A Minute!
2009-07-04 - This is, and has been for a while, one of my favourite movies - especially when I need some light-hearted comedy!
Very enjoyable!
Another Childhood Favorite!!!
2009-06-16 - Ever since I was a kid, I've really loved this movie! It's a classic. It has a great storyline, great comedy, and much more. Sexy beautiful Elisabeth Shue stars as Chris Parker who is getting ready for the night of her life, until her boyfriend has to cancel the date. Then, she gets a call from the Adersons, asking her to babysit Sara and Brad. Later, she gets another call from her best friend, Brenda who has run away from home and asks Chris to come get her. She takes Brad, Sarah, and Brad's friend, Daryl into the city to go get Brenda. From that point on, nothing good happens. They try to outrun bad guys, deal with a Bloods vs. Krips fight, and much more! One of my favorite parts is when they go to a club, and one of the singers says; "Nobody leaves this place without singing the blues." I highly recommend ADVENTURES IN BABYSITTING!!!
An underrated but terrific little 80's comedy
2009-06-12 - This crowd-pleasing little comedy almost came out of nowhere in the late 80's. With a title which leaves nothing to the imagination, we get to see Elizabeth Shue back when she was playing "good girl" characters..and before she got an Oscar nod for "Leaving Las Vegas". As the 17-year old Chris--who has her "dream dinner date" blown to smithereens (she gets even for that later on) & resigns herself to a "dull" evening of babysitting--Shue is completely credible & likable here as a white suburban teenager thrust through circumstance into the dangers of big city Chicago (a favorite locale of John Hughes'), complete with subway gangs, car thieves, and narrow escapes.
Chris' friend Brenda calls desperately from the downtown bus terminal as she has run away from home, but is stranded. Thus begins a crazy adventure as Chris must take her three charges with her--lovelorn Brad, Thor-idolizing Sara, and Brad's annoying friend Darryl--and weave in & out of each ludricous moment, while trying to get home before the parents do.
Fledgling director Chris Columbus guides the film deftly through a harrowing comedy maze. There is a subtlety here--particularly in the delicate "can-never-happen" romance between Chris & Brad--that Columbus achieves that makes his bigger success of "Home Alone" seem syrupy in comparison. One of the highlights--when the kids stumble into a blues bar while trying to escape the bad guys & have to sing the blues--could have easily been far-fetched. Instead, it's charmingly fun to watch. Slightly over 90 minutes long, it's amazing how many twists & turns happen in this movie.
This is a comedy which can be watched over & over again!
