AUSTIN, Texas — David Gordon Green, director of varied films such as “Pineapple Express” and “All the Real Girls,” digs into childhood memories with this week’s release of his newest film, “The Sitter,” starring Jonah Hill as perhaps the world’s worst baby sitter.
“I was a baby sitter when I was younger,” says Green by phone from his home in Austin. “I have three sisters, and they were professional baby sitters, and there were always kids who were like, 'Can’t I just have a dude baby sitter?’ It was a novelty until you realize that guy baby sitters just want to watch TV and hit the refrigerator. ... They don’t come with the bag of toys.
“Between baby-sitting and cutting lawns, I’ve been making a decent wage since the age of 7.”
“The Sitter’s” mayhem starts after Noah (Hill) is kicked out of school and is coaxed off his mom’s couch only because he needs the money and can’t stand the nagging anymore. His young charges include a volatile, over-medicated 13-year-old, a 9-year-old trashy diva and an adopted 10-year-old boy with a penchant for pyrotechnics. Lured by the promise of a hook-up with his pseudo-girlfriend, Noah takes the kids on a wild ride through some of New York City’s seediest sites as their mishaps pile up.
It’s kind of like 1987’s “Adventures in Babysitting,” but with strip clubs and cocaine runs. What would Elisabeth Shue think?
“I’m a big fan of her. ... I actually chatted to her about a part in the movie,” says Green, but schedule conflicts got in the way. “The Sitter” includes all sorts of “nods and winks” to some of Green’s favorite ’80s movies, including “Something Wild,” “Uncle Buck” and “After Hours.”
A graduate of the UNC School of the Arts, Green came onto the scene after critics highly praised his first film, “George Washington,” which won the Best First Film Award from the New York Film Critics Circle and the Discovery Award at the Toronto International Film Festival. Despite the initial high praise, Green insists there was no pressure for his sophomore effort “because nobody was looking at me. I made four movies that nobody saw. The critics were very kind and receptive, but ... it just increased my appetite to make things people might see sometime.”
Green shot “George Washington” in Winston-Salem on a miniscule budget, with local talent and with many crew members who still collaborate on his films.
“My composer, the production designer, all these guys were on my very first film,” Green says. “I told them, 'We’re going to win some, we’re going to lose some,’ and here we are, 12 years later, growing with our ambition.”
On Monday night, Green introduced his latest film at a special preview screening for UNCSA School of Filmmaking students, answering questions afterward. But Green doesn’t feel comfortable with the whole “role-model” label.
“There’s that and there’s the other side, the backlash about what type of choices you’re making,” he says. “But I had no Hollywood connections, no parents giving me buckets of money. I hope that gives them something.”
When he’s in town, he loves to eat hot wings from Ronni’s or dine at The Lighthouse in Winston-Salem.
“I love the character of North Carolina,” says the director, who just spent the summer in Wilmington working on the animated MTV show “Good Vibes.”
Animated comedy, drama and romance — Green says he likes to bounce around and try new genres, “like blasting your biceps at the gym.” Now, Green is in the midst of writing the script for the upcoming film “Q,” based on a novel by Evan Mandery, about a man who is visited by a future version of himself and told not to marry his true love.
Whatever the genre, Green has one rule: “I just want to continue to be involved in projects that I’m passionate about.”
Contact Julie Crawford at jcrawfordfilm@gmail.com
