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Created Dec 15, 2011 09:17AM PST • Edited Dec 15, 2011 09:17AM PST

1. Quality

2. Summary

   Barely OK 2.0

   The best comedies work when the audience can relate to what is happening on the screen. Awkward or embarrassing situations, that are believable, make us laugh the hardest. In the comedy The Sitter, these moments are few and far between. For every laugh out loud moment, there are 6 or 7 more that just don’t work.

   Noah (Jonah Hill), is a loser, kicked out of school, and content to watch TV all day. When his neighbors need a babysitter, he is roped into duty, although he obviously is incapable of taking care of anyone, including himself. Now he has to watch over three challenging kids, including Blythe (Landry Bender), Slater (Max Records), and adopted brother Rodrigo (Kevin Hernandez). Blythe wears way too much makeup and seems to have learned social skills from watching Jersey Shore on MTV. Slater is struggling for acceptance and an identity. And Rodrigo is portrayed as a deeply disturbed young man, who seems to scare everyone he comes into contact with.

   Noah is in love with Marissa (Ari Graynor), who just uses him. This leads to Noah and the kids getting into all sorts of increasingly unbelievable trouble, somewhat reminiscent of Adventures in Babysitting. The problem for this reviewer was that the situations and characters became too bizarre, which took away from the film and made it seem almost abstract. Shock comedy is one thing, but this stuff was too much in spots. Not to mention some of the disturbing stuff the child actors had to participate in.

   In the end, Hill plays a character we’ve seen before, and everyone else portrays a caricature or stereotype. From the next-door-mom with the large chest, to the children who each have deep issues, it’s just too much.

4. Acting

   Barely OK 2.0

5. Male Stars Barely OK 2.0

   Hill is OK, but his role seems familiar to other roles he has done. The film tries to have him try some dramatic serious scenes, but they seem like an afterthought, and don’t register enough impact to raise his performance.

6. Female Stars OK 2.5

   Graynor does an ok job as well, in her role as the wild and opportunistic partygirl/girlfriend.

7. Female Costars OK 2.5

   Landry Bender had the most screen presence in her scenes as Blythe, the pre-teen who dresses and acts like a hooker. A cute actress who was subjected to this mess. I would like to see her in other, more normal films.

8. Male Costars Barely OK 2.0

   Max Records (cool name), is Slater, the young man searching for an identity. The film uses his character the most for dramatic moments, and he tries, but seems to fall a bit short.

   Kevin Hernandez is creepy as Rodrigo, the adopted boy who doesn’t blend, and seems to have been surrounded by terrorists as a child.

   Sam Rockwell was good in his role as the crazy criminal, although his supporting gang of thugs were just bizarre.

   JB Smoove was adequate as Julio, one of the gang.

10. Film

    Pretty Bad 1.5

11. Direction Pretty Bad 1.5

    A hodgepodge of villains, imagery, and storytelling, topped off with over-the-top stereotypes.

12. Play Pretty Bad 1.5

    Usually I complain when a film moves too slow. This time we have a film that moves way too fast, placing our characters into situations and bizarre plots too quickly.

13. Music OK 2.5

14. Visuals Pretty Bad 1.5

    Quite a few of the visuals in the film made me scratch my head.

15. Content

16. Edge

    Sordid 3.0

17. Sex Lewd 3.6

    Lots of sexual innuendo and jokes, along with a scene of oral sex.

18. Violence Fierce 2.0

19. Rudeness Profane 3.5

    Do NOT take kids to see this film. Filled with all the four-letter words you can imagine.

21. Reality

    Surreal 2.5

22. Circumstantial Fantasy 4.1

    Would you really allow someone like this to watch your kids? Would all this really happen in one night? I think not.

23. Biological Glib 1.5

24. Physical Glib 2.0