Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment just released David Gordon Green’s (Pineapple Express, Your Highness) Totally Irresponsible Edition of The Sitter, a nice little package that contains a Blu-ray, DVD and digital copy of the raunchy babysitting comedy starring Jonah Hill.
Jonah plays Noah, a nice guy who’s stuck in a rut. He is in a commensalism relationship with this girl Marisa who only uses him because he gives great head. While at home, his mom is getting ready for a fun night out where she may actually meet a man but the baby sitter of her nightly cohorts had to cancel and, for the sake of his mom and need of cash, Jonah steps in to babysit the three misunderstood kids.
When Marisa calls Jonah for a booty call and to pick up cocaine for her, Jonah decides to take the kids on a little field trip to the city so that he can finally get laid. Slater (Max Records), the anxiety attack-prone child, Blithe (Landry Bender), a girl who wants to go dancing at a club looking like a whore, and Rodrigo (Kevin Hernandez), an adopted Hispanic boy who likes running away and blowing things up, pile in the minivan and insanity ensues immediately. There are run-ins with a friendly/angry and gay or bi-sexual drug dealer named Karl (Sam Rockwell) who declares Jonah as his eighth best friend, Rodrigo blowing up a toilet at a restaurant, and two black women who think Jonah is a pedophile for trying to get Blithe new underwear.
As I sat down to watch the original theatrical version of the film I was pretty excited for some raunchy fun. When the credits began to roll my excitement about the film had dwindled dramatically. David Gordon Green’s follow-up to Your Highness was better than that piece of unfortunate garbage but doesn’t live up to the awesomeness of Pineapple Express. There are a few cheap laughs in this film that you probably wouldn’t laugh at on a second viewing. The film just didn’t seem like it had a lot of heart or a soul that you wanted to believe in. Put simply, it was an ok comedy.
The kids in the film were solid in their roles but their characters did pretty much everything you’d expect once you understood their MO in the beginning. There wasn’t anything surprising or truly shocking about what I saw, they were like R rated Little Rascals but not nearly as cute.
Besides the smooth talking Reggie Alvin Green as Soul Baby, the only character that was really entertaining to watch was Sam Rockwell as the gay drug dealer who walked around in a robe and a MMA groin protector. He was very funny, not necessarily hilarious, but nonetheless always a treat to watch and this is by far his most eccentric role to date. If you’re going to watch this movie watch it for him and his side kick Julio (J.B. Smoove)
Now down to the special features. The film comes with nine deleted and extended scenes and one alternate ending-some of the scenes are actually pretty funny, others not so much, though I felt as if I laughed as much during these cut scenes as I did during the entire film. The movie is only 81 minutes so I’m actually surprised some of the content was removed from the theatrical release. Additionally, there is a 2 and a half minute sits-n-giggles’ reel which is just a gag reel. Surprisingly, there is actually not much to laugh at in this section, which is a shame since this is usually the funniest section of any bonus feature. There is also a one minute segment called For Your Consideration which is just Green prepping Blithe for a scene. She makes beat boxing noises, animal noises and other random noises for one of her crazy monologues in the mini-van. Up next is a 15 minute behind the scenes featurette that has a few cast interviews, footage from the set and Jonah’s rule for farting on set. This featurette is pretty entertaining as it breaks down one of the odder sets with the giant bodybuilders from Karl’s loft and also shows us Jonah “firing” people. Lastly, there is a five minute segment called Jonah the Producer which is a hilarious bit where Jonah tries to show him being a caring and intimate producer. He talks with some of the parents of the kids which eventually lead to him hitting on Max Records’ dad and Landry’s mother since they are alone with their kids there. He also shows that he values education and decides to tutor the kids for a session which is really just an excuse for him to curse at them. This was a very entertaining feature and one ripe for Hill’s comedic talents. He thrives in awkward situations and ripping on people so it was a perfect blend for him. Oh, the blu-ray also comes with an unrated version which has a few extra crazy scenes that haven’t been seen before.
Overall, The Sitter wasn’t everything I was hoping for but if you want something stupid to watch before you go to bed it isn’t a horrible choice. It’s a short film that can easily pass the time with a few cheap laughs tossed into the mix. The blu-ray has a ton of features that make up for the film’s shortcomings so that’s the plus side to picking up the Totally Irresponsible Edition on blu-ray.
Movie Rating: An ok comedy that’s decent enough to pass the time but also easily forgettable (5.5/10)
Blu-ray Rating: 6.5/10
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