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‘Don’t Tell Mom the Babysitter’s Dead’ Review: A Remake That Remarkably Refashions Secondhand Goods
A teen fakes her way into a summer job at a dwindling fashion brand in Wade Allain-Marcus' smart update of 'Don't Tell Mom the Babysitter's Dead.'
While many of the first feature’s memorable squeeze zooms, close-ups, sharp edits and wardrobe accents are included as callbacks for eagle-eyed fans, Allain-Marcus and his team also apply their own signature aesthetic flourishes. Matt Clegg’s cinematography evokes tender romanticism when Tanya and her crush Bryan (Miles Fowler) are on dates, while there’s youthful fluidity in the camera movement, particularly when the family is gracefully circled during a second-act dinner scene. A few gags fall flat (including one mention of factory-worker suicides) and there’s a nothingburger C-storyline involving Rose’s slimy paramour Gus (Jermaine Fowler), but the positive changes overshadow the flaws.
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