The Baby-Sitters Club

((Teen comedy-drama -- Color))

A Columbia release of a Beacon Pictures presentation of a Scholastic production. Produced by Jane Startz , Peter O. Almond. Executive producers, Marc Abraham, Thomas A. Bliss, Armyan Bernstein, Martin Keltz, Deborah Forte. Co-producer, Tina Stern. Directed by Melanie Mayron. Screenplay, Dalene Young, based on the book series by Ann M. Martin. Camera (Technicolor), Willy Kurant; editor, Christopher Greenbury; music , David Michael Frank; production design, Larry Fulton; art director, Charles Collum; costume design, Susie DeSanto; sound (SDDS), David Ronne; assistant director, Yudi Bennett; casting, Mary Artz, Barbara Cohen. Reviewed at Sony Studios, Culver City, July 31, 1995. MPAA Rating: PG. Running time: 94 min. Kristy Brewer ... Schuyler Fisk Stacey ... Bre Blair Mary Anne Spier ... Rachael Leigh Cook Dawn ... Larisa Oleynik Claudia ... Tricia Joe Mallory ... Stacey Linn Ramsower Jessi ... Zelda Harris Luca ... Christian Oliver Elizabeth Thomas Brewer ... Brooke Adams Watson ... Bruce Davison Mrs. Haberman ... Ellen Burstyn Logan Bruno ... Austin O'Brien Cokie Mason ... Marla Sokoloff Alan Gregg ...Aaron Metchik Patrick Thomas ... Peter Horton The popular kid lit (and cable series) "The Baby-sitters Club" comes to the bigscreen as a warm, cuddly and earnest tale of modern youth. Resembling television's after-school programming, it has the snuggly quality of a security blanket. It's a worthy effort that nonetheless simply doesn't measure up to modern theatrical rigors. Pic should do quite well as a video sell-through title, but can only expect middling response from the franchise's fans in domestic release. This particular episode, so to speak, centers on the seven young girls who comprise the title group and their efforts to open up a summer day-care camp for their charges. Because of the large congregation of characters, the story is largely a series of vignettes.

In addition to the cute, comic antics of the tykes, there are such ever-present pubescent problems as first crushes, summer school and diet and fashion dilemmas.

The most serious plot thread involves group leader Kristy (Schuyler Fisk) and her relationship with her estranged father (Peter Horton). He's returned to the quaint Connecticut town to pursue a job opening at the local newspaper. He insists she keep mum about his presence; maintaining that deception almost drives her mad.

The picture's problem is that it is small in every way. It's modestly budgeted, and boasts a simple, unflamboyant story. Its score is bland and nondescript, the performers are scrubbed, and everything is tied up in a neat, white bow.

Melanie Mayron does yeoman work in her feature directing debut, eliciting perky performances from a predominantly untried cast.

She's slightly less effective with her adults (although she worked with Horton for years on ABC's "thirtysomething"), and misses whenever the story switches gears to the falsely dramatic or archly villainous. The picture has that soft quality one finds on the small screen.

While perceived as a prime movie-franchise candidate, "The Baby-sitters Club" hasn't had an organic transition from page to screen. The original notion has been transposed to celluloid as if it were some sacrosanct literary classic, stifling much of its potential fun. ]

Its film future depends on using the source material to create something fresh, vibrant and less literal.

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