Don't Tell Mom the Babysitter's Dead

Starring: Christina Applegate, Joanna Cassidy, John Getz, Josh Charles, Keith Coogan, Concetta Tomei, David Duchovny, Kimmy Robertson, Danielle Harris
Directed by: Stephen Herek
Rating: PG-13
Genre: Comedy
1991

Times Seen:
Tim: 1

Summary: After their single mother goes away for a long vacation, the babysitter watching her five kids unexpectedly dies. The kids keep it a secret and live without supervision. However, it proves less fun than they originally expected.

Review:

Tim: Don't Tell Mom the Babysitter's Dead feels like a massive wasted opportunity. It's obviously heavily influenced by the success of Home Alone, so you know it used that film as a starting point. The idea of kids being left alone after their babysitter dies feels like a good one. There's a lot of areas to explore, hijinks ensue, all of that. And yet, this movie veers into a totally unnecessary direction and squanders the opportunity it had. I'm probably being somewhat kind to this film because I'm trying to picture it appealing to the target demographic in the early 1990s. Even still, it's obvious this is not a good movie.

After their babysitter shuffles off this mortal coil, there were dozens of directions the film could have taken. The one it chose was to thrust the eldest child into the world of work, have her buckle under the stress of paying bills and being the surrogate mother to her five children. Instead of anything actually fun, it's a young girl's fantasy about having to step up and be her mother (or an adult) far before her time. None of the movie actually makes sense, but we see this young woman manage to get a pretty good job, buy groceries, try to take care of her kids, and maybe find time for a little romance along the way. The plot is ludicrous for a number of reasons, but will only appeal to a very thin demographic. I'd imagine if you were an ambitious high schooler in 1991, it would likely have been appealing to imagine yourself as a grown up with a job, taking care of others. You'd be old enough to imagine what it would be like and naive enough you could pull it off. This would probably be appealing because you could see yourself in the lead character. For everyone else, you kind of wonder why this movie exists.

As an adult, I can tell you, it ain't all it's cracked up to be. Sure, the lead character experiences some of that, but only superficially. She's able to get through it all with her gumption and some luck. That's not how it works in the real world, but okay. It's also not that fun seeing a high school student thrust into adulthood. It's stressful to live- why it would be fun to watch that? It doesn't help that there are so few likeable characters. The rest of her siblings are quite awful and out of control (even the brother whose character arc is so heavily featured). I didn't really care about any of them.

The movie also makes a huge mistake by sending off the titular babysitter too soon. She shows up, there's some hints that she's overbearing and awful, and then immediately dies. It all happens so quickly and so early in the story. It could have been significantly more effective, played up to more effect. They dispose of the body pretty quickly and very conveniently. I could do nothing but shake my head. If only disposing of bodies was this easy (kidding).

I do give Christina Applegate a lot of credit. She had to act like a spoiled student and then transform her character into a working woman raising her siblings. The transformation is believable and it's due to her strong performance. I liked seeing Josh Charles here, too. His role is small, but it was fun to see him. I love David Duchovny and was glad to see this early role. He hadn't quite figured out the whole acting thing, so his performance was a bit cringe-worthy. Kevin Coogan did some decent things, even if his performance far too often strayed into over-the-top territory. Joanna Cassidy was a good addition to the cast. The rest of the cast was mostly subpar.

Don't Tell Mom the Babysitter's Dead tries to emulate Home Alone and fails utterly. It's not very funny, it's not enjoyable, and outside of the target demographic, can't feel all that worthwhile. I sat down fully expecting to really enjoy the movie and I left thankful it was over.

Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating: 6



If You Enjoyed This Movie, We Recommend: Home Alone, Adventures in Babysitting