“The Sitter” available on Blu-ray Combo pack, DVD and for download 3/20.
Jonah Hill is a very funny man. From “Superbad” to “21 Jump Street” Hill has quickly etched himself a “type”: the rude and intelligent asshole that rattles off inappropriate statements to anyone within earshot. There is no denying that he’s good at it but the shtick only works if he has a straight man to work off of.
Here in “The Sitter,” three quirky kids have replaced the straight man. Each little one has a major flaw that they will overcome by the last reel and each has a moment or two that will get you to chuckle. But without a straight man, Hill has nowhere to go and “The Sitter” ends up feeling forced and a bit sour as we watch a rude and intelligent asshole rattling off inappropriate statement to a bunch of kids. This cannot (and does not) stay funny for long.
Noah Griffith (Hill) is a loser who still lives with his single mother Sandy (Jessica Hecht). Early moments of the film are spent showing Noah yelling at his mom, letting her know the phone is ringing as he watched a constant barrage of weird and obscure 80’s movies on the television. We’ve seen him pull this in “Cyrus” so there is nothing new here. He has a girlfriend, Marisa (the always hilarious Ari Graynor), who doesn’t seem to be that into them considering their shared intimate moments are only one-sided with Noah left unsatisfied and being kicked out the door.
Noah is actually glad to hear that his mother has a blind date but it gets cancelled when her friends that were taking her to the party to meet the man-meat prospect can’t get a babysitter. Reluctant isn’t the word as Noah agrees to watch the three brats so his mother may go out and maybe enjoy a one-sided intimate moment for herself.
The kids are a handful, of course, and vases are almost instantly shattered as soon as the parents leave and the door is shut. Almost immediately Marisa calls Noah from a party and asks our hero (?) to bring her some cocaine. Noah’s reluctance is shatter once Marisa promises him a Mutual Sexual Act if he scores her the drugs. Our adventure begins. To reiterate: This is a movie about a loser dragging three kids through the seedy parts of town on a quest to buy cocaine so that his loser girlfriend will let him have sex with him. Funny, right?
There are a few bright spots: Max Records (“Where the Wild Things Are”) does good work as the high-strung Slater and Sam Rockwell (or should I say “the ever wonderful Sam Rockwell” or maybe “Sam Rockwell: The man that rocks so well he had to change his last name”?) is fantastic as the eccentric coke dealer Karl with a K. The scene when Noah arrives at Karl’s lair is quite good and you will never see a more bizarre drug den ever put to film.
The movie falters in its tone and concept, however, making “The Sitter” near impossible to invest in. Why would Noah ever take the kids to a Coke Dealer’s house? Sex? Not good enough. Why would one of the kids have enough explosives on him to destroy an entire storefront? He wouldn’t and much of my movie watching experience was spent rolling my eyes.
Blu-ray Special Features:
The film features an R Rated and Unrated version of the film.
· 10 Deleted & Extended Scenes
· “Totally Irresponsible” outtakes
· “For Your Consideration” with Blythe featurette
· “The Making of The Sitter” featurette
· “Jonah the Producer” featurette
· Gag Reel
· Digital Copy