Baby-Sittor

I was fortunate to win tickets to a preview of this movie from a local radio station,for myself and my three daughters (9,11 and 14). I did not expect to enjoy this movie, and was simply glad to be there for their sake. It was very entertaining and Vin Diesel did a great job, especially considering it was a comedy. Often when an action star attempts comedy it fails miserably. I rate this movie 8 out of 10 stars, and my daughters all loved it as well. We talked and laughed about it all the way home. I am certain that a few of the catch phrases will be with us for a while. This movie was a blast. Disney did a great job with this one.

Okay, first this movie is great for what it is meant to be, a family friendly comedy romp. It has funny moments, touching moments, it gives you chuckles and even a few laughs. It isn't trying to win awards or stun the audience with special effects. You sit down, watch it, laugh a little, think about how cute the kids are, then go on with the rest of your day. A lot of action stars have taken a turn at comedy to soften their image, Stallone and Arnold S. to name a couple, so Vin Diesel is in good company there. I think it is a decent, light movie worth at least a matinée viewing. The kids are charmers, Vin Diesel doesn't seem to mind being the but of jokes, and most of the acting is good. And ladies, he spends most of the movie in tight t-shirts, and according to my wife has a nice posterior region. Guys you have to settle for Lauren Graham's sweet smile.

If you liked Kindergarten Cop, there's a good chance you'll like this film. It's in a similar vein, the plot of the hardened male (Vin Deisel) forced to deal with multiple children. But this movie could've been better. I thought a lot of the action scenes seemed forced and a little on the ridiculous side. I love ninjas, but they just weren't well-played. But the side-plots involving the children's school were mostly entertaining, Morgan York (Lulu) stole the show, and Brad Garret (Vice Principal Murney) was hysterical. Scott Thompson (the Director) was also quite funny, but I would've liked to see more of him. So though I found the action portions disappointing, your kids would probably like the movie and you won't be too tortured.

In brief: "A bit more cutesy than "Kindergarten Cop," but more family-friendly, and Vin Diesel shows his versatility."

I don't usually attend screenings for kids' movies, but when I first found out about this film, I was very curious to see how Vin Diesel would do in a kid's film. I've liked Vin Diesel ever since "Pitch Black", and while some may dismiss him as a muscle-bound action workhorse, I've long thought that there was more to him lurking behind that facade, and remembering the skepticism that greeted Arnold Schwarzenegger's attempts at comedy—skepticism that was greeted with what I thought were successful turns in "Twins" and "Kindergarten Cop", I was curious to see how successfully Diesel would play against type.

The result is a family film more cutesy and farcical than "Kindergarten Cop", (the model my mind kept going back to for comparison), with an unfortunately greater focus on infant waste products, but greater conflict between Diesel and his young charges, which lends itself to more heartwarming moments of rapport-building.

Diesel plays Lt. Shane Wolfe, a Navy SEAL assigned to protect the five children of a top scientist (Tate Donovan), and find a hidden computer program that may be secreted in his house while their mother (Faith Ford) and Wolfe's C.O. journey to Zurich to try and find the right code word for the scientist's safety deposit box. A simple assignment, it seems, except these kids have issues. Eldest son Seth is defiant, suffers bullying from fellow students and the school's V.P., and is negligent in his wrestling team responsibilities. Oldest daughter Zoe ("American Dreams"'s Brittany Snow) is truant in her Driver's Ed class, and willfully disobedient. The problems of the youngest three, Lulu, Peter, and Tyler, seem simpler, but are no less mountainous for Wolfe, who first tries addressing these problems with the roughshod military discipline he's accustomed to, but soon finds himself changing tactics by listening to these kids' problems, and helping them out more as a parent than a military bodyguard. Whereas Schwarzenegger's character was instantly ingratiated with the object of his protection in "Kindergarten Cop" by becoming friends and eventually boyfriend to his mom, and merely had to win his class' attention, here Wolfe has the more difficult task of cutting through the layers of resentment in a pair of teenagers, taking care of an infant and two young children, and protecting them from assassins that come crashing through windows, which lends itself to both some genuinely warm moments when he opens up to Seth and Zoe, and some surprisingly interesting but funny action sequences that seem evocative of Jackie Chan, with a really nice setup-and-payoff when Wolfe realizes the secret to getting to the computer program.

This is obviously a film geared more for the kids, as evidenced by the kooky overacting, the silly Swiss stereotypes (which I didn't even realized existed), and the goofy actions on the part of the bad guys, such as the revelation, for example, that squirting a juice box into a bad guy's face is akin to spraying it with acid (and somehow keeps the bad guy from falling backward in response), but while that may be a let-down to the older folk, the parents will probably be pleased, since I recall some parents being upset with the more adult scenes in "Kindergarten Cop".

The bottom line is, bring the kids to see it, but if unless you're a die-hard Diesel fan, and want to see anything he does, it probably won't be your cup of tea if you're past grade school.

Okay, sometimes I think the critics are all single "non-family" people. I just got back from viewing this movie with 7 adults and 11 children. It was wonderful to watch the kids giggle and hurrah at Vin Diesel, tough guy, nice guy, real softie routine. Whether he was kicking bad guys or changing diapers, he was great. While there were many clichés and material we've all seen in other forms, we sometime forget that this stuff works. My child is 8 and this is fresh to him. I'm so please that we were able to bring 18 people of varying ages who all had a good time. I say forget the negatives and focus on what we sometimes forget, an afternoon or evening with you kids is the best pacifier.