When I screened The Babysitters at the 2007 Toronto International Film Festival, I came out of the screening wondering how any studio would market this film. You see, the film deals with an underage call-girl service. Here is a clip from my TIFF Review:
“The Babysitters is a dark indie comedy about a teenager babysitter who turns her business into a call-girl service for married guys. It’s not as ridiculous as it might sound. Shirley is a 16 year old high school student who babysits for neighbors on weekend nights for extra cash. One night one thing leads to another when Mr. Beltran (John Leguizamo) kisses her. Kisses turn into sex. Sex turns into guilt. Guilt turns into a $200 babysitter pay-out. Beltran tells his friends, they order babysitters, and suddenly innocent young Shirley has a new business. Her friends/employees are assigned the appointments, and drop of a 20% cut through the slits in her locker. High School madam Shirley is earning money for college, while her friends earn money for clothes, jewelry and other material things. Things seem to be going perfectly…”
None of the major movie studios (or their mini major labels) were willing to pick this one up, so Peace Arch Releasing are taking on the distribution themselves. Which is kind of a shame considering the movie was actually pretty good. Judging by the theatrical one-sheet (upper right) and the new Red Band movie trailer which premiered on IGN, Peace Arch knows what they’ve got (unlike Sony Pictures Classics, who is already screwing up The Wackness campaign, as predicted). I’m not sure how many screens this film will play, so it might be one you’ll have to watch out for on DVD. Tell me what you think of the new trailer below.
April 16th, 2008 at 2:49 am
Looks like it could be a fun indie.
April 16th, 2008 at 2:51 am
Varierty’s review: “Neither truly original nor a guilty-pleasure genre spin, the pic lacks a hook for general audiences who may find the subject matter distasteful as presented.”
April 16th, 2008 at 3:41 am
I wonder if a certain Governor will watch this movie and critique it. LOL
I think it’s going to be a formula movie, you seen it before just with different actors, setting, and a slightly different story.
Now the other thing about the girls protrayed are in highschool…. Umm isn’t that wrong in many ways and I can see some parents screaming pedofile.
April 16th, 2008 at 4:27 am
How about, instead of saying “see it on DVD” just suggest that people actually, gasp… TRAVEL to see the film….
April 16th, 2008 at 5:08 am
Sorry Chris, traveling more than 20 minutes to see a film this day and age (gas prices) would never work.
This movie does seem very “by the book” but that’s not necessarily a bad thing. if Variety is spot-on with the review about them not feeding us into the guilty pleasure, then the ship is already sunk.
April 16th, 2008 at 5:22 am
A girl running a business to serve men pleasure in the form of Baby Sitting, to me, it looks ridiculous. I am very sure a large percentage of audience and viewers would find this movie very inappropriate.
Talk about the mums and dads, a lot of parents would look at this movie as insulting especially if they have daughters. I wouldn’t blame them either. I am a girl and when I watched the trailer, I just felt like it’s a slap in the face.
It’s like another bad girl kind of thing….reminds me of Mean Girls (a movie starring Lindsay Lohan) where they show that teenagers have that ugly side of themselves and sex is an all that must issue.
Instead of the cliques, you have a business with dirty secret lives. It’s like an exaggerated portion of their schooling year. Not so much of a difference, they just cater to adults with cash. Mean girls just plainly sex and social status….sounds different to Baby Sitters. But when you think about it…..it’s quite the same.
I wouldn’t go and watch this movie, makes me feel cheated of my own pride.
April 16th, 2008 at 5:29 am
It’s just my opinion, that is all.
*For a side note, its my perspective….so don’t hate me!*
:(
April 16th, 2008 at 5:43 am
I’ll see this as long as they don’t sit on the babies.
April 16th, 2008 at 6:38 am
Sitting on babies is hard on your ass.
April 16th, 2008 at 7:17 am
More like BabyShitters!
NICE LARRY
April 16th, 2008 at 7:33 am
Looks average, but for all the wrong reasons, I’m going to see it…”
April 16th, 2008 at 9:34 am
That was a red band trailer?
April 16th, 2008 at 9:40 am
Does babysitting deez nuts count?
April 16th, 2008 at 10:04 am
Actually, I take that back.
I’ll only see it if they sit on babies.
April 16th, 2008 at 10:14 am
Nevermind, I see it’s gone now!
April 16th, 2008 at 11:07 am
I didn’t realize this was supposed to be serious. I feel like I need a shower after that one. I was expecting something funny, more like The Girl Next Door. This looks uber creepy. And how does John Leguizamo do it? From The Pest to this? A man of many faces…
April 16th, 2008 at 12:34 pm
How was this a Red Band piece?
April 16th, 2008 at 12:34 pm
Dissapointed in the lack of actual babies being sat on.
April 16th, 2008 at 5:31 pm
Yeah, I’m also wondering why that was a red band trailer.
April 16th, 2008 at 6:43 pm
Well I guess it helps that the girls in question aren’t exactly model hot and just look normal.
April 16th, 2008 at 10:22 pm
yo peter,
I know you were thinking about the marketing afterwards, but did you like this movie? I feel like it could go either way.
April 16th, 2008 at 10:27 pm
It was good, pretty enjoyable. Not great. Probably a good dvd rental for most. The trailer actually gives you pretty good idea of the plot/feel. So if looks like something you might like, you should definitely check it out. It’s not exploitation or porn, it has a real story with real characters, and a story you’ve seen and heard before spun into an entirely different world.
April 16th, 2008 at 11:58 pm
nice…having said that, I’ll be looking out for the dvd. thanks dude!
April 17th, 2008 at 8:44 am
In Brazil it’s relatively common that middle class girls turn into prostitution without the knowledge of their parents to pay for college or to buy expensive stuff the parents don’t want to give them. Many girls go into this life just thinking about the expansive clothing and cell phones they’ll be able to buy and not worring about how prostitution will change their lives, since it’s not an easy life like many people think nor a one-way journey like others say.
In brazil, a call-girl called Bruna Surfistinha got famous for keeping a blog on the web telling her daily life as a prostitute, about her “clients”, etc. Her blog turned into a book that was already published in other countries (including in the US). A movie adaptation of the book is now in pre-production and it might be released in 2009.
April 17th, 2008 at 9:40 am
Also wondering why it’s red banded… any clarification would be great.
April 17th, 2008 at 12:11 pm
The Babysitters is a dark indie comedy about a teenager babysitter who turns her business into a call-girl service for married guys.
This does not look even remotely like a comedy, dark or otherwise.
July 27th, 2008 at 5:06 pm
when does this movie come out sounds interesting is sick kinda way