When I was growing up, I read voraciously, and one of my favorite series
was the Baby-sitters Club books by Ann M. Martin (and a variety of
ghostwriters). My friend Libbie and I were comparing notes recently, and
we found it funny that although both of us had read many books in the
series, neither of us ever saw the 1995 movie, which came out when we
were just a little older than most of the main characters. We decided
that we ought to do something about that.
The Baby Sitters Club,
directed by Melanie Mayron with a screenplay by Dalene Young, is a
frothy family-friendly movie targeted mostly at girls in late elementary
school and middle school. The hour-and-a-half-long movie draws mostly
from three different books in the series, introducing us to the seven
main characters and entwining several plot threads. Libbie commented
early on that it was a mistake to have so many major characters; while I
don’t really think that could be avoided in an adaptation of a
much-loved series, there’s no doubt that some of them get lost in the
shuffle.
The most clearly drawn characters here are Kristy, the
club president, and Stacey, the glamorous diabetic who looks and acts
older than her clubmates. Bre Blair’s grown-up looks serve her well,
since Stacey’s main storyline involves her relationship with 16-year-old
Luca (Christian Oliver), who believes that they are the same age. In
reality, she is 13, as are the other four main club members. The two
junior officers, frizzy-haired aspiring novelist Mallory (Stacey Linn
Ramsower) and cheerful African-American dancer Jessi (Zelda Harris), are
only 11. If any of the main characters could have been cut, it would be
these two.
Schuyler Fisk brings a great deal of spunk and heart
to the role of freckly tomboy Kristy, and hers is easily the most
compelling performance in the movie. That’s partly because Kristy’s
story is the most developed. After coming up with the audacious plan to
run a kids’ summer camp with her fellow club members, Kristy’s world
gets shaken up by the arrival of her absentee father (Peter Horton).
She’s conflicted over his reappearance, since she longs to have him back
in her life but is bitter that he stayed away so long. What’s worse,
though he seems eager to spend lots of quality time with her, he insists
that she keep his presence in town a secret until he can secure a job.
Naturally, all this secret-keeping takes a toll on her relationships.
Kristy’s
quiet best friend Mary Anne (Rachael Lee Cook) is the only other person
who knows that Kristy’s dad is back. Her friendships suffer too, since
it becomes apparent that she and Kristy are in cahoots about something.
Meanwhile, the camp is keeping her busy, and she’s glad to have her
boyfriend Logan (Austin O’Brien) to lean on. Her stepsister,
California-born animal rights activist Dawn (Larisa Oleynik), isn’t so
thrilled by the amorous attention she’s receiving from goofball Alan
(Aaron Michael Metchik), who is helping with the day camp in an effort
to get close to her. And artsy Japanese-American junk food addict
Claudia (Tricia Joe) is struggling through summer school and about to
crack under the pressure. After all, her parents have warned her that if
she doesn’t bring her grades up, she’ll have to quit the club.
Along
with all this, we have several other subplots to juggle. One involves a
catty queen bee plotting the downfall of Kristy and her friends with
some help from her rather guileless lackeys. Another has to do with an
eccentric neighbor who finds the activities of the summer campers a
nuisance but warms to the club after bonding with one of the members. In
short, there’s an awful lot going on here and very little time to
develop it. If you weren’t familiar with the characters already, I’m not
sure how good a grip you would have on them, and Dawn and Stacey, who I
tended to mix up even in the series sometimes, are rather hard to tell
apart. The movie feels a little overly busy, and it’s littered with some
pretty corny dialogue. For instance, when Stacey tells Luca, who’s from
Switzerland, about New York City, her beloved hometown, she gushes,
“It’s the best!” “You mean, like you?” he responds. Awwwwww.
Clearly,
this movie was not a contender for the Best Adapted Screenplay Oscar.
But it’s no worse than your typical tween fare, and while I groaned
several times over some of the lame banter the characters exchanged, I
was easily drawn into Kristy’s dilemma, and I found the friendships
among the girls touching. I also liked the creative ways they found to
keep the kids in their care entertained, though by the end of the movie
it seems apparent that they bit off a little more than they could chew
with that job. Parts of the movie are unrealistic, particularly a
sequence in which the campers manage to completely clean the club’s
trashed headquarters in a couple of short hours. I doubt too many adults
will really get sucked into this, but for pre-teen girls who don’t mind
their movies a little over-the-top, The Baby Sitters Club isn’t a bad way to spend an hour and a half.
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