elizabethpritcha I've watched this movie countless times. It's was a favorite of mine as a kid but, I hadn't watched it in probably 10 years. I decided to give it another watch a few months ago to see if it was as good as I remembered.. it was even better! I'm watching it again tonight.

Wuchak RELEASED IN 1987 and directed by Chris Columbus, "Adventures in Babysitting" (aka "A Night on the Town") is a teen dramedy about 17 year-old babysitter, Chris (Elisabeth Shue), from the suburbs of Chicago who has no choice but to take the siblings she's babysitting (Keith Coogan & Maia Brewton) and their friend (Anthony Rapp) into the big city whereupon they have many misadventures. Penelope Ann Miller plays Chris' geeky friend (at the bus station), Calvin Levels a car thief, John Davis Chandler the main heavy and George Newbern a helpful college dude with eyes for Chris. I was surprised at how entertaining this movie is. It has the tone of an Indiana Jones flick, but with teen protagonists and taking place in a modern USA city. The Thor element was a unique surprise and the little girl is cute and spry. The protagonists are likable and you can sense the warmth in their relationships, e.g. Brad's infatuation with Chris. Unfortunately, the movie fumbles the ball on the female front a little bit. There are quality women in the cast, for sure, but the director never milks these resources for their worth (and I'm not tawkin' bout nudity or sleaze). Take Shue, for example (who was 21 during filming); she's dressed in a looong sweater or jacket that covers her figure the entire film. Compare this with her role in "The Karate Kid" (1984) where her beauty is well displayed and tastefully so. THE FILM RUNS 1 hour & 42 minutes and was shot in Toronto and the Chicago area. WRITER: David Simkins GRADE: B+/A-

SnoopyStyle Chris Parker (Elisabeth Shue)'s big anniversary date gets canceled at the last minute by boyfriend Mike (Bradley Whitford). With nothing to do, she goes to babysit Thor obsessed little Sara Anderson (Maia Brewton). Her geeky brother Brad (Keith Coogan) is in love with Chris. His nerd friend Daryl Coopersmith (Anthony Rapp) comes over. Chris' friend Brenda (Penelope Ann Miller) tried to run away from home and is left penniless in downtown Chicago. Chris drives downtown and is forced to take along the three kids. She gets a flat tire and the adventures in babysitting begin.This is a second rate John Hughes wannabe movie. There's even a musical interlude although it's not really done right. It has the distinction of being Chris Columbus' first directing effort who would also direct similar movies like Home Alone. Elisabeth Shue is likable enough but she's not really America's sweetheart type. She's into her 20s by then and a bit too old to play a teen. It's basically a harmless kid movie playing up the suburb downtown divide. Shue is kind of broad with her naivety but there are a few chuckles.

Jesse Jordon The 80s might be my favorite era of movies, which I realize to many movie enthusiasts, is probably a sin. I will admit that I haven't seen a lot of "classic" movies made in the 60s downward but I still try to catch up on them all the time, so I suppose this opinion is subject to change but regardless, many of my favorite movies were made in the 80s. But Adventures in Babysitting is one of those films with just a certain 80s charm that can't be entirely replicated nowadays. Is it that ambitious? No, not really. Is it very entertaining? Absolutely. It has some strange quirks and weird things that are mostly found in 80s movies because the 80s was kinda quirky and weird. (Well at least as far as I can tell without growing up in the era). The story itself is a very basic fish out of water story with a bunch of white kids in the suburbs getting thrown into crazy events in the city of Chicago that are obviously outrageous and over the top because it's a movie. Right from the opening scene of Chris Parker (Elisabeth Shue) dancing like a fool in her bedroom alone, you kinda realize this movie is going to have at least some certain charm to it. Chris is stood up by her boyfriend and then ends up having to babysit for the Andersons' children: Sara (Maia Brewton) and Brad (Keith Coogan). But a third guest comes along Darly Coopersmith (Anthony Rapp) after he finds out that Chris is taking all of them into the city when she gets a call from her friend Brenda (Penelope Ann Miller) who decided to run away from home like an idiot. Brenda is essentially the B-plot of the film and they cut to her character here and there for some easy laughs but it's enjoyable nonetheless. Everything essentially turns horrible once the tire on Chris' car goes flat and they then get picked up by a trucker with a hook for a hand, they get involved with a car thief, they go to a Blues club (which might be my favorite scene in the film), college parties, etc. Just about everything that could go wrong, goes wrong. The movie is simply a fun comedy with an interesting enough plot to go with it and a certain 80s charm that can't really be replicated nowadays. Besides, who wouldn't rather go see Transformers: Age of Extinction and have their brain turn to mashed potatoes instead of watching an actual fun film made in the world of Hollywood like Adventures of Babysitting? Sigh. Overall, it's a fun movie; a harmlessly fun movie with some nice quirks to it and maybe some harmless fun would be okay in Hollywood today more often (And does certainly still exist along with actual intelligent movies like the recently released Dawn of the Planet of the Apes…how did I manage to mention Transformers and Planet of the Apes in a review for Adventures in Babysitting?)