Don't Tell Mom the Babysitter's Dead

This is literally the most painful thing i had to sit through, which im only sitting through to see the OG's appearances. The references and how things worked out DO NOT FIT IN WITH THIS MOVIE'S REALITY! How are they going to explain the CREDIT CARD STATMENT??? The original movie DEALT IN CASH, you could make up the receipts as we saw them doing in 1991.

A behavioral retreat? Leaving five children under the age of 17 BACK IN THE STATES? No. Even with a babysitter what the heck??? No, just no. None of this makes sense. The only thing enjoyable is the house. Too short for crap too short for crap...

It was ok. Passed the time.

But I can't get past the fact that these kids in 2024 weren't clued up enough to even consider that the babysitter was someone relative and check that before they dumped her body. Even the kid that was compassionate to crows! Thats easy to do these days and I think kids of today would be that thoughtful, if they're good kids, like these were. So the fact they just dumped her, even if she was a cranky old lady made me not care much for the kids at all.

But also the filling her with alcohol and driving her in to a tree, might have worked; however when she was pulled from the water there would be no water in her lungs and an investigation would begin. So not quite an open shut case.... Which would be fine, if they didn't end it with a news story trying to wrap it up neatly.

Just seems like they could have done better. This story worked in the 90's, not so much in 2024. That's on the writers.

A few fun nods to the OG but fell short. Super rushed and lacked the bite and reality of the original. The simple fact is, the original wouldn't fly on a logical stance these days. No one questioned it in the early 90s. The original had realistic kids and characters for that time, even Kenny's evolution couldn't be mimicked. My kids and I watched it and I immediately made them watch the original because it had a magic the remake couldn't capture. I'm all for taking nostalgia and trying to reinvent it but this fell flat. I hope no one tries a camp nowhere remake because I'd imagine it'd be as lame as this.

Wade Allain-Marcus has directed the reboot of 1991's "Don't Tell Mom the Babysitter's Dead." It's unclear why he bothered.

In the update, Tanya (Simone Joy Jones - fresh from "Bel Air," another retread) is seventeen and the oldest of four siblings. After a meltdown at work, their mom is sent to a resort for some mandatory R&R. Sure. Happens all the time. The kids are left in the "care" of an elderly, pistol-wielding maniac who promptly passes away. Right. Rather than bothering their mom, the kids decide to dispose of the body and fend for themselves. Of course they do. With the help of her siblings, Tanya lies about her age, gins up a fake résumé and gets a job at a company specializing in fast fashion. Uh huh. Desultory observations about adulthood, responsibility and getting by financially dribble out after that.

In the original film, the lead role was played by Christina Applegate, an actual teenager, who was in the middle of an eleven-year run on "Married... With Children." Her interactions with Joanna Cassidy, who played the owner of the fashion company, were the most redemptive elements of a film that was panned by the critics. A high-water mark was a critic labelling the film "amusing fluff." (It got a 35 score on Metacritic.) Inexplicably, the reboot hews closely to this marginal original story. The only novel element in any of this is that the family at the center of the story is Black.

The casting here is uneven. Jones, who plays Tanya, is twenty-five years old. She struggles to be convincing as a seventeen-year-old. However, her charm and effervescence give the film what little energy it's able to generate. As the two youngest siblings, Ayaami Sledge and Carter Young are cute, cuddly, chatty and clever. On the other hand, portraying the role of the lead fashionista is Nicole Richie, who has made a career out of being the daughter of singer Lionel Richie and the sidekick of Paris Hilton. With practice, diligence and hard work, her acting could someday rise to abysmal. Today is not that day. She and some of the other cast members say their lines and then pause a beat, apparently hoping for a sitcom laugh track to bail them out. Help does not arrive.

This is a film with limited aspirations that are underachieved.

I agree with everyone who says to stay away from this HORRENDOUS, ATROCIOUS AND RIDICULOUS movie!!!! I really tried to watch as much of it as I could but I couldn't watch anymore after the scene when the oldest girl is getting ready to go for a better paying job. The music is ridiculously terrible to the point where I had to press the mute button!!! I just couldn't take it anymore!!! The original *Don't Tell Mom thr babysitters dead* is wayyyyyyy better than this crap they threw together!!! The characters and their acting were awful too especially the boy with the gold in his mouth!!! I understand that they had to make changes to be more up to date but this movie was horrible!!! I didn't need to watch the whole movie to know that it wasn't a good movie!!! AVOID AT ALL COST!!!! DON'T WASTE YOUR TIME!!!!