Don't Tell Mom the Babysitter's Dead (1991)

This movie's title is way crazier than the actual product, but that's ok. It's a surprisingly good story. Christina Applegate stars as Sue Ellen Crandell, a spoiled beach-loving teenager whose mother is going on a two-month vacation with her rich boyfriend. She is left with her pot head brother Kenny (Keith Coogan) and three other annoying younger siblings under the watchful eye of a really old, really bitchy, really controlling babysitter. After a day of torturing the Crandell's, she dies in her sleep. Not wanting their mom to come home and ruin their summer of freedom, the kids decide to stuff her body in a trunk and leave her at the morgue, feeling they can take care of themselves.

The money their mom left the babysitter was accidentally buried with her, so Sue Ellen is forced to get a job. First she tries fast food, where she meets prospective beau Bryan (Josh Charles), and then goes out for a low-level secretarial job at a company that designs uniforms. She beefs up her salary with phony fashion experience, lies about her age, and ends up an executive assistant to Rose Lindsey (Joanna Cassidy), head of the design team (or something similarly important). Now she has to ensure that her family doesn't starve and no one at her office discovers the truth while avoiding an inappropriately flirty executive (John Getz) and conniving lower-level employees (Jayne Brook and David Duchovny). She might throw some romance and fashion design in there too.

Ok so I totally know the problems of this movie. I mean, its premise is ridiculously unrealistic and pretty dumb. Teenagers wouldn't tell anyone a woman died in their house just so they can party all summer? It just seems... odd. Wilder than that is Sue Ellen's job situation, as if no one asked for ID or tax information or anything when she was hired. Goodness. Looking past all that though, I actually think it's a pretty good movie. They use this silly premise to tell a genuinely interesting and unique story. Sue Ellen is resourceful, surprisingly competent (especially considering the movie stereotypes of a character her age and sex), and sympathetic.

And while it's not exactly slice-of-life, the movie deals with a lot of aspects of working in an office and the problems parents face that kids might not be aware of (paying bills, medical insurance, etc). It's a comedy but there's an effort made to show realistic people and issues. Don't Tell Mom the Babysitter's Dead is fun and upbeat but not vapid or cliche, which it could easily have been considering its audience. There's a strong female central character and an engaging story. I guess I dig it!

4/5