Movie Review: 'The Sitter'

The Sitter Starring Jonah Hill, Sam Rockwell and Ari Graynor Directed by David Gordon Green Rated R

David Gordon Green (Pineapple Express) accomplished something that I didn’t think was possible; he made me believe that Jonah Hill (Superbad) can be funny again.  Green rebounds from the dismal effort of Your Highness with the frequent laugh-out-loud antics of The Sitter.  This modern day version of Adventures in Babysitting stars Hill as Noah Griffith, a live-at-home schlub who reluctantly agrees to babysit for the Pedulla’s three eccentric children, so his mom can go out on a date.

Aside from the film’s opening, Green has given us a comedy that doesn’t rely on sex and bathroom humor to elicit laughs. 

Of course, that’s easy to do when you have Sam Rockwell (Cowboys and Aliens) playing the homo-erotic-drug-dealing Karl, with pizzazz.  Ari Graynor (Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist) is cast as the air-headed object of Noah’s lustful obsession, Marisa.

It’s that obsession that spins the wheels of this movie when Noah agrees to run a foolish errand for her.  Noah magnifies the stupidity by “borrowing” the Pedulla’s mini-van and dragging along his three wards.  Max Records (Where the Wild Things Are) plays the neurotic Slater; Landry Bender is adorable as the precocious Blithe, and Kevin Hernandez as the cherry-bomb-loving and extremely unpredictable Rodrigo. 

The errand brings them to the bodybuilding-gym-cum-drug-lair operated by Rockwell’s Karl.  J.B. Smoove (Hall Pass) is a stand-out as Karl’s side-kick and right-hand-man, Julio.  It’s after Noah and the kids leave Karl's crib that the real fun begins as they; rob and defile a Bah Mitzvah, burglarize and destroy a jewelry store, get robbed by the police and have a "demolition derby" car race against Karl and Julio through a city park.  Somewhere during the insanity Noah discovers that he does know how to help others and like The Grinch’s heart, his maturity level grows several notches. 

It’s always a treat when filmmakers want to explore the seedy underbelly of New York City with a comedy.  Green keeps his surreal farce moving along crisply with only a few dead spots and the humor coming from every angle.  It doesn’t quite reach the frenetic level of Scorsese’s After Hours, but it does hold its own against most of the other quirky NYC comedies. 

Hill is at his understated best as his character of Noah evolves from pathetic man-child to a semi-responsible adult.  The supporting cast also includes; Bruce Altman (Blue Bloods) as Noah’s cold-blooded father, Method Man (The Wire) as a bad ass bar patron and the gorgeous Kylie Bunberry as one of Noah’s former college classmates. 

This isn’t Oscar material (sorry Mr. Apatow), but as a comedy and all around movie, this may just be... one of the year’s best.