Putzberger That's what you'll be screaming, albeit in jest, if you stick with this low-intensity mid-90s made-for thriller, which stars the future nighttime soap star as a dimmer-than-a-penlight high school senior seduced by the man whose children she babysits (you might have figured that out from the title). He's no run-of-the-mill sleazebag, though -- he's a sociopath who plugs his wife, stages it as a suicide and then can't quite decide whether he should frame the aspirational lower-middle-class teenager played by sweet Keri or the smug computer hacker (1996 edition), played by stiff John D'Aquino, who was banging his wife. Collins seems to think he's playing against type but his typical narrowed eyes and oily mannerisms render him about as disarming as a used-car salesman turned televangelist. Not that lovely Keri would ever notice, since she's more interested in picking out miniskirts and scoop-neck tops to show off those lovely, barely legal legs and boobs.Although it's poorly written and acted, "The Babysitter's Seduction" does manage to rise above utter and complete predictability by offering a slight twist on the America's cinematic aupairaphobia. In most domestic thrillers, a hot young babysitter (why aren't men or unattractive women ever hired to tend children?) insinuates herself into a household and whittles away the confidence of the aging (but still beautiful) career woman whose husband and children she gradually lures away. In this movie, at least, Mom is gone within minutes and the babysitter is the one being menaced, although since it's a low-rent ripoff of "The Jagged Edge" you can't credit the filmmakers with great originality. "TBS" also offers a modicum of suspense in that until the end, you never know who's going to save poor little Keri -- her harried single Mom, who's working too hard to save her daughter from the slimy smoothie? Her poorly coiffed ex-boyfriend, whom she blows off so she can attend to Stevie's needs? The tough lady cop, played by Phylicia Rashad, who seems to think that affecting a Clair Huxtable-like knowingness throughout the entire movie will compensate for the inability to keep her mouth shut around the prime suspects in a murder investigation? Or will Keri wise up just in time to save herself? You won't actually know until the last five minutes of the movie, although if Keri Tight And Sheer doesn't keep you interested you may have given up long beforehand.

Gluck-3 This was a fairly watchable film. Stephen Collins' character came across as a very nice person, and as with any good mystery, one kept guessing for a while as to "whodunnit," after the other suspect was introduced. (Although once the killer became known, we entered into silly potboiler territory.) I thought Ms. Rashad made for a good detective. And our heroine was very winning. As for the older man-younger woman hook-up that a few reviewers found repulsive, such an outlook is really a curious state of the times. Our extremely youth-oriented society has brainwashed the masses into rejecting practically everyone who is over thirty; it's as though you either must cease to exist as a sexual being once you reach a certain age, or you must only be confined to partnering with one in your own age bracket. Even if there's a young person of legal, consenting age, people have now been trained to believe -- perhaps because the media has sometimes built the sex offender issue to a fever pitch, and some people think they are doing their "moral duty" -- there is something unethical about an age gap between lovers. I just watched the 1937 movie, ALGIERS, where the young and beautiful Hedy Lamarr was engaged to an older ogre of a man who was much more hideous than Stephen Collins, and yet the alliance seemed fairly natural; yes, in this case, she was in it for his money (an allure for our heroine in "The Babysitter's Seduction" as well, although the babysitter did develop genuine feelings for the man), but that was Hedy Lamarr's choice, just as it was Anna Nicole Smith's in real life, years later. Stepping aside from the lure of the sugar daddy, and entering the realm of genuinely "equal" relationships, it's a pity people have become uptight, and regard age as more than a number. Years back, there was more normalcy about accepting older people as regular human beings.

Mulad I totally love Keri Russell, so I had to check this out if only to see her past "indiscretions" vis-à-vis movie scripts. I enjoyed this film and thought she gave a strong performance aside for a few scenes, though it's a TV movie and some fairly obvious flaws have to be expected. Stephen Collins has always come off to me as a sleazebag, so I guess this role worked for me. Still tough to see him on screen next to a 20-year-old. I'd agree that Phylicia Rashad fell flat as a piece of cardboard compared to the other characters. If you enjoy an occasional melodrama complete with yelling at your television, this is an enjoyable guilty pleasure.

thomasvis It is according to me a great movie. Keri Russell plays once again a great role, and she is pretty. Also I think that Stephen Collins plays a good opponent. It is a movie that keeps you thinking.