Adventures in Babysitting (1987) on Netflix
PG-1319871h 42mActionAdventureComedy
Chris Parker's anniversary date falls through, so she babysits Sara and Brad Anderson. A call from her stranded friend Brenda takes the three of them, plus Brad's friend Daryl, downtown.
- Netflix3.6/5
- IMDb7.0/1054,942 votes
- Rotten Tomatoes69%
Trailer
Plot summary
Chris Parker, seventeen, has a date in Chicago with her boyfriend Mike for their anniversary, but he calls it off. Her mother persuades her to babysit the neighbors' children instead: eight-year-old Sara, who worships the comic-book hero Thor, and her fifteen-year-old brother Brad, whose parents are at a party downtown. Then Brenda, Chris's friend, telephones from a bus station in the city, stranded and begging for a ride. Sara, Brad and Brad's friend Daryl refuse to be left behind. On the expressway the station wagon blows a tire, and a tow truck driver named Pruitt offers to help, just as Chris realizes her purse is still at the Andersons' house.
Cast
Did you know?!Facts and trivia about Adventures in Babysitting (1987)
Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.
- Paramount had the project first but wanted Molly Ringwald, who turned it down; the studio then proposed Cher and Bette Midler before the filmmakers settled on Elisabeth Shue, still seeing many alternatives before offering her the role.
- Over 150 actresses auditioned for the lead in Dallas, Florida, New York City, Toronto, Chicago and Los Angeles, including Valerie Bertinelli, before Columbus cast Elisabeth Shue, then a student at Harvard University.
- CBS made an unsold 1989 television pilot out of the film, starring Joey Lawrence as Brad and Brian Austin Green as Daryl; despite never becoming a series, its July 7 broadcast was watched by 9.7 million viewers.
- Production designer Todd Hallowell faked Chicago streets by adding trash, and reconstructed two stories of the Associates Center skyscraper for the film's iconic shot of the characters dangling out of it.
- Chris Columbus reviewed 100 scripts before picking this one for his directorial debut, choosing Adventures in Babysitting because he felt comfortable with its scale.
- Adventures in Babysitting marked a first for its studio: it was the first Walt Disney movie to have a PG-13 rating.
- The idea of the singing scene at the Blues House was not in the script but came from director Chris Columbus, according to screenwriter Simkins.
