Review: The Sitter

Last Updated on August 5, 2021

PLOT: As a favour to his mom, Noah (Jonah Hill), a twenty-something slacker, agrees to babysit three rowdy kids for a family friend. Over the course of the evening, Noah and his young wards will run afoul of a coke dealer (Sam Rockwell), make unlikely friends with a club full of gangstas, blow up a jewelry shop, meet up with crooked cops, and other R-rated shenanigans.

REVIEW: THE SITTER must have scared the shit out of 20th Century Fox once David Gordon Green turned in the finished product. By far, it’s the most twisted comedy that studio’s put out since FREDDY GOT FINGERED. Hill’s slacker is one of the most shocking protagonists in a comedy in a while, with the premise of the film hinging on him taking the kids out to a coke deal so that he can buy his sorta-girlfriend (played to perfection by a bitchy Ari Graynor) a couple of lines so that she’ll finally give him a blow-job. Ya know, a film the whole family can enjoy…

Yeah, THE SITTER is somewhat more twisted than your usual Fox holiday comedy, and the fact that this wasn’t screened for critics doesn’t surprise me in the least. Suffice to say, I had to go and actually buy a ticket to an early matinee in order to write this review (oh, woe is me), but in the end, I had a good time with it.

Ya see, I’m pretty hard to offend when it comes to these types of comedy, and Hill’s brand of humor appeals to me. Actually, for the first twenty minutes or so, I thought I was watching some kind of subversive comedy classic, especially when Sam Rockwell’s coke dealer, flanked by an army of gay, greased up-bodybuilders entered the scene. There’s something so perverse in the fact that Green directed Rockwell in the gorgeous SNOW ANGELS, but now is using him in the bluntest comedic fashion possible, but it works.

The problems start to rear their head once the film becomes about Hill trying to steal $10,000 in order to pay off Rockwell after one of his kids accidentally destroys his coke-supply. At this point it becomes just another chase comedy, and for something that runs only 75 minutes, it hits far too many slow spots. However, the scenes with Rockwell, and the later scenes involving Hill hooking up with a bunch of friendly gangstas make this worth checking out- if you don’t mind shelling out cash for a somewhat inconsistent, short movie.

Still- something needs to be addressed, and that’s David Gordon Green’s career. What the heck is going on? I get PINEAPPPLE EXPRESS, and I even understand him wanting to tackle the ambitious YOUR HIGHNESS, but why is he wasting his time on something as disposable as THE SITTER? Sure, it’s funny enough at times, but is it the best use of the talent of a guy who was once touted as the next Terrence Malick. Even the visual flair he brought to his other comedies is missing here, with this having the look of just another studio comedy. Sure, he brought a subversive edge to it, but it’s really only sickos like me that are going to find it funny, and I wouldn’t expect this to make a dime in the long run. The edge of THE SITTER is really all in the script (I presume) and Hill’s performance, and it feels like anyone could have directed it. The same can’t be said about something like SNOW ANGELS, or ALL THE REAL GIRLS. It’s time for him to get back to what he does best, and it ain’t comedy.