TheBlueHairedLawyer I think I would have loved this film if I were maybe eleven, but watching it now it's incredibly predictable, lame, dorky and boring, with trendy 90's boy-band soundtrack, obvious 90's fashions, mediocre acting and the things teen girls (and boys) face growing up, that they don't seem to realize isn't as important as they think. Kristy has a new step-family and still can't accept that her father doesn't speak to her. Stacey is struggling with her diabetes when she meets a boy older than her who she tries to have a relationship with. Dawn is in the "I can make a difference" teen activism phase, sort of a 90's hippie dork, and there are more in the group who I honestly don't care enough to recall. The group of girls are all babysitters, looked down on by the snobby rich girls.The summer changes everything, they each grow up a little faster than they expected when running a summer camp for their clients. Kristy learns that her beloved father isn't who he was when she was a baby, and Dawn learns that not all people are what they seem when she has to deal with a cranky neighbor. Stacey discovers that lying about your age to get a guy is no way to build a relationship, and that while her disease is annoying, she doesn't need to be ashamed of it. By the time summer ends it brings the club, and their new friends they've met over the summer, closer together.I wasn't a 90's teen, I don't know... were eleven-year-olds allowed to babysit at that time? I just don't see this film as very realistic; the few in the group who are old enough to fully understand how to tackle running a full-time summer camp are hardly present because they're busy doing other things in their lives. Dawn's character was extremely annoying; she would ramble on about the environment at the worst of times and was a pretty much useless waste of space. One positive, it was cool seeing Natanya Ross, who played the role of gloomy and depressed Robyn Russo in the Secret World of Alex Mack, pulling off a half-decent acting job in the minor role of the snobby girl Grace.Babysitter's Club is just a typical teen drama, but it lacks the humor that Madeline (1998) and Harriet the Spy (1996) both had. If you grew up reading the novels and want it for nostalgic value, you might enjoy it but it isn't the same as the books, it differs in many parts.

Steve Pulaski For a movie close to home and with girls near my age group I expected there to be characters I could relate too and characters I can practically replace the names of the people with people I knew. That wasn't the case. These girls are probably the most stereotypical stock teenagers I've seen in any movie. All of which have some sort of quality making them blend in, none standing out. Thats not a horrible thing, but the only girl I found I was making connection to was Mary Ann Spier (Rachel Leigh Cook). She was a shy, good listening, and sensitive girl. One I could really see myself relating and hanging out with. Pretty much the good girl, stays out of trouble and popularity, is herself and nothing more. I look for that.With The Babysitters Club though, its exactly what you expect. About twenty minutes in this movie, I took out a voice recorder (compliments to the Motorola Droid) and recording my audio saying what I believed will happen event to event. I was right. Pretty much down to the sentence accurate with the movie. Its cliché beyond belief. Nothing unique, nothing is colored outside of the lines. "The story you expect from a group of adolescent girls" should be the title.The plot is about a girl named Kristie a thirteen year old tomboyish girl who is the founding member of "The Babysitters Club" a club where girls...babysit. The Babysitters Club consists of Her, Mary Anne Spier, Dawn Schafer, Claudia Kishi, Stacey McGill, Mallory Pike, and Jessica Ramsey. Some girls don't get more than ten lines in the film (Mallory and Jessica mainly). The girls open a day-care in Kristie's backyard where they handle dozens of kids and try to keep them in control. They face numerous problems like the kids being a hazard to the neighbor ladies garden, them attracting a group of girls who are out to destroy the club, and Kristie facing troubles when her biological father returns to her side making her keep the secret he's back from her friends and her mother, causing Kristie more stress that is showing on the club and her life all around.The movie is cliché, beyond cliché, non-realistic. Its a movie where everything is resolved the easy way out. If my folks were divorced and my dad told me not to tell my mom he's back you damn well better not trust me. Then the mom doesn't seem mad or concerned when her child is acting as strangely as possible. If my mom saw me behaving like that, she'd lock me in her room and make me fess up. Realistic situations, handled unrealistically.I also would like to say for a movie to be called The Babysitters Club. There's more day-care action then babysitting which is bizarre. Its a coming of age film that is clearly just riding off the book series' popularity by using the title and characters. There are no scenes of babysitting at all, just some day-care shots then the rest of the points are dedicated to Kristie's personal life and other issues involving the character's life.So much could have been done with this. It could have been extended with some babysitting scenes gone wrong. Get more into the characters, from what I hear they were extremely built on character development. So one 94 minute movie based on various books doesn't cut it. Especially when the main point, BABYSITTING, is completely abandoned. Still a fair kids movie, but not much of a movie itself. The Babysitters Club will amuse kids from age eight to twelve, but most likely bore kids older. But if you understand the difficult times when adolescents are put under pressure, this will show it in good context.Starring: Schuyler Fisk, Bre Blair, Rachael Leigh Cook, Larisa Oleynik, Stacy Linn Ramsower, and Zelda Harris. Directed by: Melanie Mayron.

Mel J I used to read the books when I was around nine years old so it was quite nostalgic moment for me catching this film one morning. Unlike the lacklustre series, this was quite a nice portrayal of the books and the child actors were able to bring the characters to life.The plot is easy enough to follow, even for those who have never read the books before, and the film would probably appeal very much to young girls who are at an age when they have a hundred best friends. But I don't think anyone older than twelve (with the exception of the teenage and twenty-something former fans of the book!) would be very interested other than to reminisce on that innocent, childish period when life revolved around homework, best friends and relishing in the freedom of the summer hols.One thing, however, that struck me while watching the film. It did remind me how ridiculous the whole concept of eleven- and thirteen-year-olds forming a babysitting group was. At that age, I'd be hiring a babysitter for *them* since they're as young as the kids they babysit!

David_Niemann I first seen this movie when I was about 14 or 15, and I loved it. For years I have wanted to see it again. Today I had the chance to watch "The Baby-Sitters Club" once more. Maybe I shouldn't have...The movie essentially follows a group of girls who are all involved in a baby sitting club. As the summer approaches they think of ways to stay together, coming up with the idea of hosting their own summer camp. Over the course of the movie we follow the characters as they deal with the summer camp, an angry neighbor, parents coming back into their life, summer school and love, among other things.I am a big fan of Ellen Burstyn, so it was a joy to see her in this movie. It was also a nice surprise to see a very young looking Marla Sokoloff, who plays Lucy in the television drama "The Practice".The characters that make up the baby-sitters are all really stock characters. The tom-boy, the environmentalist, the creative one, the smart one, etc. The movie also contains yet another stock standard spoiled brat "bad girl", and as always is docked by two "side-kicks", who hardly respect their "master". It's been done so many times, when will people stop writing characters like that? It even happens in Harry Potter! Why can't we have an insight into why this girl acts this way? I know this is "just a children's" movie, but I think you'd be insulting the intelligence of many young people by saying they couldn't handle such writing and depth of character.And the character of Jessi seems serverly under-written. She only has a few lines in the whole film. I get the feeling she was just a stapled on "black character" to add a diversity to the movie. (I haven't read the book series, so sorry if she is in the books.) Which is a huge shame as she seems like a really nice girl. And the opportunity of a racism sub-plot has gone missed, which is another shame, as many young people will probably see this at some point. When a movie starts preaching at least one area you should discuss is racism. Oh well.And the whole relationship story with Luca was really quite pointless. I did, however, enjoy the scenes with Kristy and her father. It added a lot of realism to the story, and I'm sure a lot of kids watching could relate to what was going on up on the screen.The movie has some really poor pacing. And a lot of the dialogue sounds corny. Plus the science rap is just awful. I wanted to be sick!Don't get me wrong, this isn't the worst movie ever made. There are a lot of good things to like about this movie. But the bad out weights them. I might revisit this movie one day down the track. I had expected this to be a guilty pleasure, but it turned out to be a real disappointment. Maybe some memories should just be left. 6/10