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Baby's Day Out (PG, 1994)

common sense media says

Home Alone rehash with slapstick humor, baby in peril.

parents & educators say
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What parents need to know

Parents need to know that this mild comedy is full of pratfall humor -- lots of bonks on the head, groin injuries, slips and falls -- all accompanied by exaggerated expressions meant to draw laughs. Also, the baby at the center of the tale ends up in all sorts of dangerous situations, including crawling through city traffic and cavorting through a construction zone, all without an accompanying adult and without injury. Kids will likely find the baby and the hijinks of the criminals funny, though the concept of kidnapping might make young kids uneasy. One bad guy is particularly rude to the other two.

Positive messages: The message -- however weakly delivered -- comes when the wealthy, superficial parents of Baby Bink learn to appreciate the people in their lives, instead of just their things and their reputation.
Positive role models: The baby (though unwittingly) takes extremely dangerous chances, suggesting to young kids that they might be able to manage an adventure in the city without parents. Also, the bad guys are rude to each other.
Violence: The bad guys fall, get slapped and punched, hit their heads/groins, get into a tug-of-war with a gorilla. One extended scene involves the baby setting a man's crotch on fire. Though the injured parties react to pain, the real consequences of their injuries are absent.
Sex: Not applicable.
Language: Name-calling, of the "moron" and "idiot" variety.
Consumerism: Not applicable.
Drinking, drugs, & smoking: Not applicable.
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More on Baby's Day Out

What to talk about

Talk to your kids
  • Families can talk about the injuries the characters receive and the violence depicted. Though they sometimes wince in pain, the bad guys never seem to get seriously injured in the movie. How is this different from what would happen in real life?
  • How did the movie handle the idea of class? How did the wealthy family react to the poor mother accused of kidnapping Baby Bink? What was the relationship between the nanny and the baby? What about the nanny and the mother?

What's the story?

What's the story?
A trio of hapless criminals (Joe Mantegna, Joe Pantoliano, Brian Haley) in search of ransom money kidnap a cute-as-pie baby from a wealthy family. But instead of remaining sequestered, the curious crawling infant escapes from his captors. He makes his way through an endless series of potentially dangerous situations -- from busy city streets to construction zones -- all without a scratch. The kidnappers, on the other hand, get beat up, bruised, and even set on fire in their attempts to reclaim the baby so they can retrieve their money. Soon the whole city is on the hunt for the baby, who somehow eludes nearly everyone.

Is it any good?

Is it any good?
 

Fans of the Home Alone franchise will find much in common with this movie, also penned by John Hughes. Maybe a little too much in common. BABY'S DAY OUT follows an almost identical narrative to Home Alone 2, except, unlike Macauley Culkin, this child is still in diapers (which never need to be changed, by the way).

The predictability of the script, the unappealing villains, and the prevalence of slapstick violence will likely still appeal to elementary-aged kids and tweens, though parents will probably find the baby's precarious safety unsettling.

Movie themes & details

Themes
adventures
Movie Details
Studio: Twentieth Century Fox
Director: Patrick Read Johnson
Cast: Cynthia Nixon, Joe Mantegna, Joe Pantoliano
Genre: Comedy
Run time: 99 minutes
Theatrical release: July 1, 1994
DVD release: January 29, 2002
MPAA Rating: PG
MPAA explanation: mild language and comic action
This review was written by Sierra Filucci
 
 

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eminem rocks
kid, 13 years old
4
 
best thing ever!!!
i really liked this movie because it was so funny and the baby did such funny stuff to the burglers and the burgler were pretty dumb.
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ON: Content is appropriate for kids this age.
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