By Kate Flowers
Ah, the old “babysitter trying to take the wife’s place” plot. Surprisingly, it never really gets old. No matter how many times I see a naughty little vixen move into the home of the perfect family who just needs a little extra help, I can’t help but watch. When it comes to this particular genre, a few elements are pretty much guaranteed or your money back: #1: She will be attractive, but everyone around her will make repetitive comments to elevate that attractiveness to the highest level. This reinforces the wife’s inevitable jealously and the tried and true skepticism of the wife’s best friend after meeting naughty nanny. That brings me to #2: The wife always has a best friend who can almost instantly see through all of the BS from the moment she meets the caregiver. #3: The wife will feel pushed aside as the babysitter takes over certain tasks: helping with homework, cooking, picking up the kids and of course, letting the husband “confide” in her. Naturally all of these elements are included in While the Children Sleep (aka The Sitter) which as you may have guessed, is the copycat version of The Hand that Rocks the Cradle. It comes complete with a babysitter haunted by past traumatic events, a mother who is made to look negligent (why is it always the mother?), and a husband who, no matter how many times is warned by close friends and family, cannot see the babysitter for who she really is... a loony toon. Did I mention that there is also the classic “defend the child from the school bully scene”? While it may not be as “colorful” as Rebecca De Mornay’s tirade, the nanny does manage to slip in the phrase “skinned like a rabbit”... Yikes! I would definitely recommend giving this one a watch... If not for Gail O’Grady, do it for parents everywhere who may have failed to conduct a background check or broken their nanny cams.
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