Don’t Tell Mom the Babysitter’s Dead

When the mother of a sniveling group of surly kids goes on a much-deserved summer vacation, she leaves her kids under the charge of an elderly distaff granny. But then granny has a heart attack, so the kids load her dead body in a trunk and deposit the package on the steps of the local funeral home. The kids are ecstatic thinking that with the big wad of cash Mom has left, they can have a summer of consumer madness. But when they find out that the money has been buried with the baby-sitter, the kids have to fend for themselves to make ends meet. Teen dream Sue Ellen (Christina Applegate) tries working at a fast food restaurant but she can’t stand the grease. So, she puts together a false resume and, posing as a twenty-eight-year old, she applies for a job as a receptionist at a garment manufacturing company. The company vice president, Rose is so impressed by her resume that she hires her on the spot as her executive assistant. Her deception looks to be working out great — Sue Ellen manages to hold off the office lady killer, avoids exposure by the embittered receptionist, borrows money from the company’s petty cash box for household incidentals, and continues her relationship with restaurant employee Bryan (Josh Charles). But suddenly, the clothing firm is set to go under, and Sue Ellen must use her teen fashion sense to save the company and her job . . . and she has to get the rest of the brood involved. Watch out for a young David Duchovny in a small role., Kids provide for themselves during summer vacation after their babysitter dies., Five kids are left home when their mother leaves town on a three-month vacation, only to have their geriatric babysitter die of a heart attack. This leads to the eldest teen, Sue Ellen, scamming her way into taking a job at a hip Los Angeles fashion company to feed and support her needy siblings., Amusing and entertaining black comedy farce starring Christina Applegate as a 17-year-old who becomes the family breadwinner when their Iron Lady babysitter, left to look after her and her four siblings while their mother is on holiday in Australia, dies in the night., Christina Applegate stars in this convoluted comedy that comes across as a teen fantasy combination of Home Alone and Working Girl. The premise is all in the title — when the mother (Concetta Tomei) of a sniveling group of surly kids goes on a much-deserved summer vacation, she leaves her kids under the charge of an elderly distaff granny (Eda Reiss Merin). When granny ups and dies, the kids load her dead body in a trunk and deposit the package on the steps of the local funeral home. The kids are ecstatic thinking that with the big wad of cash Mom has left, they can have a summer of consumer madness. But when they find out that the money has been buried with the baby-sitter, the kids have to fend for themselves to make ends meet. Dream teen Sue Ellen (Christina Applegate) tries working at a fast food restaurant but she can’t stand the grease. So, she puts together a false resume and, posing as a twenty-eight-year old, she applies for a job as a receptionist at a garment manufacturing company. The company vice president, Rose (Joanna Cassidy), is so impressed by her resume that she hires her on the spot as her executive assistant. Her deception looks to be working out great — Sue Ellen manages to hold off the office lady killer Gus (John Getz), avoids exposure by the embittered receptionist, borrows money from the company’s petty cash box for household incidentals, and continues her relationship with restaurant employee Bryan (Josh Charles). But suddenly, the clothing firm is set to go under, and Sue Ellen must use her teen fashion sense to save the company and her job . . . and she has to get the rest of the brood involved., Five kids are left home when their mother leaves town on a three-month vacation, only to have their geriatric babysitter die of a heart attack, leading to the eldest teen, Sue Ellen, to scam her way into taking a job at a hip Los Angeles fashion company to feed and support her needy siblings., Black comedy-farce starring Christina Applegate as a 17-year-old who becomes the family breadwinner when their Iron Lady babysitter, left to look after her and her four siblings while their mother is on holiday in Australia, dies in the night.