ADVENTURES IN BABYSITTING Directed by Chris Columbus; written by David Simkins; produced by Debra Hill and Lynda Obst for Touchstone. Starring Elizabeth Shue, Keith Coogan and Maia Brewton. Rated PG-13 (language, some adolescent sexual humor).
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Every kid's fantasy of wild adventure with his parents out of the way is fulfilled in Adventures in Babysitting—as well as every parent's and babysitter's nightmare. But all this universal appeal isn't enough to save the movie from being just another mildly entertaining, but certainly unremarkable, little sitcom.
Chris (Shue) has a big date cancelled and takes a babysitting job instead. Before the parents have been gone 10 minutes, she gets a call from a flaky friend, Brenda (Penelope Ann Miller), who has run away from home, but has gotten no further than the downtown bus station before running out of money.
Brenda needs rescuing, but Chris does have her babysitter's responsibilities. Oh well, what harm could come from a quick trip into the city (Chicago, from the suburbs) and a quick trip back?
Naturally, everything that could possibly go wrong—and several things that could never possibly happen—do, involving Chris and her charges in a series of wildly improbable escapades.
The movie's biggest problem isn't its story, although it is quite preposterous and contrived. What really torpedoes Adventures in Babysitting it is cast.
Shue is cute and trendy-looking and was an enjoyable supporting player in the original Karate Kid. But, as the babysitter, she needs to carry this picture. And she doesn't have the talent, or even the personality, to be able to do that.
Her companions aren't much more interesting, with one exception, Brad (Coogan) is too old to need a babysitter, but since he has a crush on Chris, he decides to tag along. He is appealing enough, when he looks moonily at Chris, to win her sympathy for his doomed infatuation. But as the hero of an adventure, no matter how comic, he doesn't quite cut it.
Brad's indelicate friend Daryl (Anthony Rapp) and his leering looks start out being mildly amusing, but get old quickly. Sara (Brewton), the kid actually being babysat, is the movie's brightest spot. She is spunky, believeable and funny. While her companions are gasping with fright or clutching each other in horror, she's enthusiastic about how "great" the whole adventure ia. Scenes with her are usually fun to watch, but they're few and far between. The focus, for some reason, remains on the older, less interesting characters.
Among the other players, only Calvin Levels and Miller are worth mentioning. Levels is a car thief who befriends the hapless group out of sympathy, basic decency and, one suspects, a simple sense of fun. And Miller is quite funny as the unfortunate Brenda, who has amusing encounters with some of Chicago's homeless and others, while waiting for her friend at the bus station.
With more engaging players, Adventures in Babysitting could have been wildly hilarious, or, at least, more entertaining. As it is, I'd wait to rent the video.
July 15, 1987