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THE BABYSITTERS
Written & Directed by David Ross
Produced by Kathy DeMarco, Jason Dubin, Jennifer Dubin, John Leguizamo & Cora Olson
Director of Photography, Michael McDonough
Edited by Zene Baker
Music by Chad Fischer
Released by Peace Arch Entertainment
USA. 90 min. Rated R
With Katherine Waterston, John Leguizamo, Cynthia Nixon, Lauren Birkell & Louisa Krause

Babysitting can be a very lucrative career – especially when you supplement your child rearing services by having sex with the daddy. This helpful tip comes courtesy of Shirley (Katherine Waterston), the entrepreneurial heroine of David Ross’s amusing black comedy that may just give teenage prostitution a PR facelift. If you take it seriously, that is. Fortunately, this unlikely little film feels wry and sexy way before it becomes sincere.

Shirley is an uptight high school senior whose sense of adventure is all but invisible behind her lumpy sweaters and OCD. So when she hooks up with Michael (John Leguizamo), the dreamy father of some kids she baby-sits, Shirley’s breezy reaction to the event – losing her virginity, sleeping with a married man – comes as a refreshing surprise. Right away, the mood is set for a film without much drama, moralizing, and weighty repercussions. And when Michael nervously gives her a significant bonus for her babysitting troubles and Shirley readily accepts, we see that the director will be playing well outside our social mores.

Since boys love to gab about extramarital statutory rape, pretty soon other neighborhood dads decide they’d like a babysitter of their own. Busy with college applications, Shirley recruits some of her pals to take on the extra assignments, but not without paying the newly minted madam 20 percent. The comedy mounts (with a forgivable dose of artificiality) as Shirley sets up visits, threatens disobedient call girls, and protects her hard-earned territory.

Though the absurd social spoof isn’t meant to dispense any lessons, in a way, The Babysitters can be seen as a testament to free will, given that Shirley’s dirty digression isn’t a product of circumstance or a deeply flawed thought process. The headstrong teenager ventures into her raunchy hobby with determination and clarity of mind – trying to make some easy money and, more importantly, to add a surreal splash to the drab canvas of her life.

It may sound like a dark comedy, but there’s something almost “feel-good” about this straightforward, uninhibited cast of characters. The restrained acting wonderfully counterbalances the farcical plot, and in the end, we find ourselves rooting for everyone – except some traitorous sluts who steal Shirley’s turf and one pervy John who gets a tad too cheeky. Yana Litovsky
May 8, 2008