Adventures In Babysitting [VHS] [1987]

The delightful Elizabeth Shue puts in an engaging performance as likeable student Chris Parker who after being stood up one night by her slimy, two-timing lover, finds herself babysitting for her parents friends, the Andersons whilst they attend a business function deep in the heart of the city. Chris is initially meant to be babysitting Sara Anderson (Maia Brewton) but Sara's older brother Brad (Keith Coogan) who is totally besotted with Chris decides to invite his best friend Daryl (Anthony Rapp) over to pursue his desires for Chris.

Not long into the night Chris receives a telephone call from her best friend Brenda (Penolpe Ann Miller) who is in complete distress after having run away from home on the spur of the moment and finding herself stranded in a downtown bus station thats running rife with all sorts of crazy and psychotic characters. In a hasty bid to rescue Brenda from the perils of the city Chris takes along Sara, Brad and Daryl into the city.

Whilst on the motorway their car breaks down and find themselves taking a lift from a total stranger and before long find themselves inadvertently hitching a lift with a notorious car theif who works for, to say the least, a group of unscrupulous and shady business men.

After making a dramatic escape from these gangster types the gang find themeselves plunged into a series of hair-raising adventures. Most amusingly they find themselves unwittingly on stage in an all-black blues bar where they are forced to deliver their own song. This scene is one of the highlights of the film as they hilariously perform their own song, Babysitting Blues.

After fleeing from the late-night blues bar they eventually find themselves aboard a subway train where two rival street gangs armed with blades burst onto the compartment they are sitting in for a showdown with one another which leaves Chris and the kids understandbly terrified. However, the way they managae to plumb their way out of this situation is actually highly amusing.

Towards the end of the film Sara disappears sneakily and ends up being chased by the gangsters which leads her to run into the building her parents are at where they are attending a business function (what a co-incidence but then this was the 1980's after all). The wayward Sara nearly plunges to her death as she crawls out atop the skyscraper her parents are in but predictably all ends well of course and the film closes on a feel-good note with Chris and the kids having bonded by this time after their hair-raising adventures in the city.

Yes Adventures In Babysitting is just crazy, plain silly and totally unbeleavable from the word go but view this film in the right context intended and this makes for highly entertaining and always fun viewing with sharp direction courtesy of Chris Columbus and an above average screenplay from David Smithy.

In one of her earliest film roles, Elizabeth Shue shines to perfection as Chris Parker whilst a somewhat goofball of a cute kid Maia Brewton hilariously manages to hijack a vast majority of the scenes she's in as cheeky but loveable Sara Anderson.

Keith Coogan puts in a straight-foward performance as niaeve and lovestruck Brad Anderson whilst more amusing in contrast is his best friend Daryl, played impeccably by Anthony Rapp.

Penelope Ann Miller delivers a fabulous cameo as Brenda. Some of the situations Brenda finds herself in are, to say the least, quite hilarious. One particular scene that makes for significant comic value is when short-sighted Brenda has her glasses stolen when she falls asleep for a few moments in the dingey, run-down bus station. Wandering around the bus station in a daze she sees what she mistakenluy thinks is a cute white kitten. She enthusiastically picks up the little furry abnimal only to have it pointed out to her that she is infact holding a giant, sewage rat. That priceless look on her face and the ear-piercing scream she lets rip when she realises this is just side-splitting and impeccably timed.

Released in 1987, Adventures In Babysitting enjoyed some success at the box office though time seems to have eclipsed its achievements, probably as Chris Columbus went on to make the far more famous Home Alone which mereley catapulted his career into bigger things. The film is patchy but overly enjoyable and certainly a recommended comedy to lovers of the 80's genre. Defintley worth a look (and is personally an old favourite of mine having first obtained this on VHS when I was 11 years old back in 1990 so it's nice to have this again in the remastered DVD edition)!

Ian Phillips