The Baby-Sitters Club (film)

The Baby-Sitters Club
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Melanie Mayron
Written by	Dalene Young
Based on	The Baby-Sitters Club by Ann M. Martin
Produced by	Peter O. Almond Jane Startz Marc Abraham Thomas Bliss
Starring	Schuyler Fisk Bre Blair Tricia Joe Rachael Leigh Cook Larisa Oleynik Stacy Linn Ramsower Zelda Harris
Cinematography	Willy Kurant
Edited by	Christopher Greenbury
Music by	David Michael Frank
Production companies	Columbia Pictures Beacon Pictures
Distributed by	Sony Pictures Releasing
Release date	August 18, 1995 (1995-08-18)
Running time	94 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$6.5 million[1]
Box office	$9.6 million (USA)[2]

The Baby-Sitters Club is a 1995 American comedy-drama film directed by Melanie Mayron, in her feature film directorial debut. It is based on Ann M. Martin's novel series of the same name and is about one summer in the girls' lives in the fictional town of Stoneybrook, Connecticut. The film was shot in the California cities of Los Angeles, Altadena, and Santa Clarita.

The film was released on August 18, 1995. The film received mostly mixed to positive reviews, and grossed $9.6 million against a budget of $6.5 million.

At the first meeting of the summer, Kristy Thomas, the president and founder of a babysitting club called "The Babysitter's Club", has the great idea of holding a day camp for their babysitting charges for the entire summer. She and her co-founders (Claudia Kishi, Mary Anne Spier, Stacey McGill, Dawn Schafer, Mallory Pike, and Jessi Ramsey) vow to keep an eye on the children. Mary Anne and Dawn, who are stepsisters, offer their parents' backyard to serve as the campsite, as long as the kids do not come inside the house and the barn (leading the club to rent a porta potty for the summer). The summer camp annoys Mary Anne and Dawn's neighbor, Mrs. Haberman, who becomes increasingly upset because of the camp activities that are taking place next door, and keeps threatening to have the camp shut down.

Kristy's father Patrick also comes back into town to see her but cautions her to not tell anyone he is there. This leads to a summer of lies and secrets (only Mary Anne knows he is in town), while Kristy and her father re-build their bond over baseball and mouse pancakes. Kristy's 13th birthday comes, and her father promises to take Kristy to the local amusement park Fun Land for her birthday but never shows. Then a thunderstorm comes and Fun Land closes. Kristy tries to walk home in the rain, but is picked up by the members of the club when Mary Anne tells the other girls about what has been happening with Patrick. Kristy then finally celebrates her 13th birthday with her friends over a melted ice cream cake that the club members had made for her.

Claudia is forced to attend summer school because she failed science. Her parents have told her that she needs to bring up her grades and pass summer school or else they will force her to quit the Babysitters Club and repeat the 8th grade. Claudia is worried about not passing final exam until the kids, club members, and Alan Gray perform a rap song based on the material at the day camp, helping Claudia pass the test.

Mary Anne has a boyfriend named Logan Bruno, who is also a club member. But classmate Cokie Mason likes him too and wants to steal him from Mary Anne. Their rivalry lasts all summer and only ends when Jackie Rodowsky hits his first home run into Cokie, who is sitting in a tree nearby.

Stacey has a crush on a 17-year-old boy named Luca from Switzerland, who is Rosie Wilder's cousin. As their relationship progresses, she faces problems telling him about her diabetes, and later, her age. This is revealed after a trip to a New York City club with Claudia, in which a bouncer does not allow her into a club because she is underage. Luca is outraged, unable to believe that Stacey is 13 years old. Luca and Stacey break up briefly until Stacey calls on Luca to help them rescue Kristy during her rainy walk home from Fun Land. As Stacey is saying goodbye to Luca, he tells her that he will be coming to Stoneybrook again next year. Delighted, Stacey tells him that she will be 14 years old when he returns. They share a kiss just before Luca departs.

Alan Gray has a crush on Dawn Schafer, and tries to impress her by going to the day camp. When he helps the kids perform the rap song for Claudia, Dawn finally realizes that she likes Alan after all.

Mallory and Jessi have problems with the day camp thanks to the kids, who always misbehave and drive them crazy.

The club is also on the hunt for a new headquarters, believing they are close to outgrowing the space at Claudia's house. They find an old greenhouse and spend the summer with the kids cleaning and fixing it up. After the renovations and cleanup are complete, the members realize that Claudia's room is already perfect as club headquarters and they decide to give the greenhouse to Mrs. Haberman as a way of thanking her for putting up with the day camp. Mrs. Haberman takes a photo of the BSC and the children, and they are remembered forever.

The Baby-Sitters Club was one of two nationwide theatrical releases on the weekend of August 18, 1995. It suffered a disappointing debut, opening in ninth place with $3 million, which placed it behind Mortal Kombat. The total domestic gross was $9.6 million.^[2]

On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 67% of 15 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 6.2/10.^[3] Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 48 out of 100, based on 18 critics, indicating "mixed or average" reviews. Audiences surveyed by CinemaScore gave the film a grade "B+" on scale of A to F.^[4]

Kevin Thomas of the Los Angeles Times gave the film 4.5 out of 5 calling it "A beautiful film that possesses the power to enchant all ages."^[5] Hal Hinson of The Washington Post called the film "A colorful, buoyant, loving tribute to the notion of girlfriends forever."^[6] Edward Guthmann of the San Francisco Chronicle gave the film 2 out of 4 and was critical of the film saying "85 minutes doesn't provide an adequate format for developing seven distinct characters."^[7][8]

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[9]

The Baby-Sitters Club: Music from the Motion Picture is a soundtrack that was released on August 8, 1995.^[9] The trailer memorably included such hit 90s songs as "Cornflake Girl" by Tori Amos, "Good" by Better Than Ezra, and "Dreams" by The Cranberries, none of which are included on the soundtrack.^[12]

• The Baby-Sitters Club at IMDb