Tagline: These girls mean business.
A bored suburban husband finds his affair with a high-school babysitter fast snowballing out of control in this black comedy from first-time screenwriter/director David Ross. Shirley (Katherine Waterston) is a brainy honors student who is always thinking about the future, and works part-time as a babysitter in order to save up for college.
Among Shirley’s regular charges are spirited youngsters Adam and Mikey, the offspring of respected father Michael (John Leguizamo) and his pretty wife, Gail (Cynthia Nixon). Shirley has always had an innocent crush on Michael, but one night after her regular shift, things take a serious turn when the pair sneaks a furtive kiss. Lately Michael has become noticeably depressed by the suburban routine, longing for the days before family responsibility weighed him down and his wife turned into the typical minivan-driving soccer mom.
Shirley’s kiss makes Michael feel alive again, and as a result he gives her a substantial tip that night. Before long, however, a fleeting kiss has turned into a full-fledged affair, with Michael and Shirley using the babysitting shifts as cover. When Michael’s married friends catch wind of his extramarital exploits, they, too, express the want for a babysitter who is willing to earn a healthy tip. Recognizing the potential for profit in such a situation, Shirley soon assumes the role of teenage madam — matching up her high-school friends with otherwise upstanding men who have grown bored with married life. Of course, Shirley isn’t above skimming a bit of the profits for her college fund, but then again it’s only a matter of time before their carefully crafted cover is blown.
The Babysitters is a 2007 independent drama film directed by David Ross. It stars Katherine Waterston, John Leguizamo, and Cynthia Nixon. The story follows a teenager who turns her babysitting service into a call girl service for married men after fooling around with one of her customers.
About the Story
A 16-year-old turns her babysitting service into a call-girl ring for married men after she begins an affair with a customer. High school senior Shirley works as a babysitter to save money for college. She has a serious crush on Michael, father of two of her regular charges. One night, Michael and Shirley share a forbidden kiss, and he gives her a nice bonus on top of her regular babysitting fee.
After Michael’s married buddies find out and want in on the babysitter action, Shirley becomes a high-school madam, arranging dates between her girlfriends and the family men of their neighborhood with her trusty black book. An innocent flirtation soon spirals into an affair that causes everyone involved to lose more than they bargained for.
Michael Beltran has a different outlook on life. The father of two, Michael married Gail, the ‘party-girl’ who turned out to be the responsible one in the family. He works a job he doesn’t like, misses the occasional AA meeting, and longs for a little of the excitement he used to know.
When Michael drives Shirley home from babysitting the first night, they both find something they need in each other. Michael wants someone, anyone, to think of him as fascinating and funny and vital. Shirley wants someone to think of her as grown up. But, as Shirley says, as soon as one thing is out of place, it throws everything out of whack, and when a stolen kiss is returned both Shirley and Michael set in motion a series of events fatally destined to crash.
For Michael, guilt over the kiss leads him to overpay Shirley for her babysitting services. For Shirley, what she doesn’t admit she can’t regret, so she puts the money away with the rest of her college fund. When a friend of Michael’s wants the same experience and Shirley’s best friend is willing to “baby-sit” Shirley sees it as a simple matter of supply and demand…and a way to make twenty percent off the top.
But sex is never as easy as stamping “services paid”, and love to a teenage girl doesn’t mean the same as lust to a middle aged man. So while “business” is soon booming, so too are greed, envy and jealousy threatening to spiral Shirley’s carefully constructed world wildly out of control.
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The Babysitters (2008)
Directed by: David Ross
Starring: John Leguizamo, Katherine Waterston, Cynthia Nixon, Lauren Birkell, Alexandra Daddario, Kim Shaw, Andi Potamkin, Jansen Panettiere, Jay Patterson, Bridget Regan
Screenplay by: David Ross
Production Design by: Ray Kluga
Cinematography by: Michael McDonough
Costume Design by: Daphne Javitch
Set Decoration by: Mila Khalevich
Music by: Chad Fischer
MPAA Rating: R for disturbing strong sexual content, language and some drug use – involving teens.
Studio: Peace Arch Entertainment
Release Date: May 9, 2008
Visits: 52
