Adventures in Babysitting (1987)
Front Cover Actor Back Cover
Elisabeth Shue Chris Parker
Maia Brewton Sara Anderson
Keith Coogan Brad Anderson
Anthony Rapp Daryl Coopersmith
Calvin Levels Joe Gipp
Vincent D'Onofrio Dawson/'Thor' (as Vincent Phillip D'Onofrio)
Penelope Ann Miller Brenda
George Newbern Dan Lynch
John Ford Noonan Handsome John Pruitt
Bradley Whitford Mike Todwell
Movie Details
Genre Adventure; Comedy
Director Chris Columbus
Producer Debra Hill; Lynda Obst
Writer Elizabeth Faucher; David Simkins
Studio Disney / Buena Vista
Language English
Audience Rating PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Running Time 99 mins
Country USA
Color Color
Plot
Way before she grabbed an Oscar nomination for her searing performance as a world-weary prostitute in Leaving Las Vegas, Elisabeth Shue was known as one of the squeaky-clean actresses of the '80s. Having made a splash in The Karate Kid and the '60s-nostalgia TV series Call to Glory, Shue cemented her good-girl reputation with the charming but badly titled Adventures in Babysitting. Set in the John Hughes-style suburbs of Chicago, the titular adventures follow babysitter Chris (Shue), who agrees to watch the Anderson kids (Keith Coogan and Maia Brewton) when her boyfriend cancels their anniversary date. All is quiet on the home front until Chris is called upon to rescue her best friend (Penelope Ann Miller, also doing good-girl duty) from the seedy downtown bus station. She can't leave the kids, and she can't leave her friend alone in the big bad city, so she packs everyone in the station wagon and heads into Chicago. Screwball craziness begins as they encounter car thieves, knife-wielding gangs, gun-toting truck drivers, and, worst of all, Chris's duplicitous boyfriend. It's hardly mature entertainment, but Shue makes it work; when she wins over the audience at a blues club with her improv singing, you'll be won over, too. In his directorial debut, Chris Columbus (who later when on to helm the sap-fests Mrs. Doubtfire and Home Alone) gently skewers the suburbia white-bread mindset of the main characters, and plays up the comedy over the schmaltz with a subtlety of which he now seems incapable; the near romance between Shue and Coogan is played lightly and adorably. Look for brief appearances by art-house faves Lolita Davidovich as a college party girl and Vincent D'Onofrio as an unlikely savior. --Mark Englehart
Personal Details
Seen It Yes
Index 3
In Collection Yes
Product Details
Format DVD
Region Region 1
Screen Ratio Widescreen 1.85:1 Color
Layers Single side, Single layer
UPC 717951003300
Chapters 22
Release Date 2002
Packaging Keep Case
Audio Tracks ENGLISH: Dolby Digital Surround [CC]
FRENCH: Dolby Digital Stereo
Nr of Disks/Tapes 1
Extra Features
Color Closed-captioned Dolby Widescreen
Links
Internet Movie Database