Baby's Day Out

Baby's Day Out is a 1994 American adventure comedy film directed by Patrick Read Johnson and written by John Hughes, who also produced the film. Starring Joe Mantegna, Lara Flynn Boyle, Joe Pantoliano, and Brian Haley, the plot centers on a wealthy baby's abduction by three criminals, his subsequent escape and adventure through Chicago while being pursued by the criminals.

Baby's Day Out
Theatrical release poster
Directed byPatrick Read Johnson
Produced by
Written byJohn Hughes
Starring
Music byBruce Broughton
CinematographyThomas E. Ackerman
Edited byDavid Rawlins
Production
company
Distributed by20th Century Fox
Release date
  • July 1, 1994 (1994-07-01) (United States)
Running time
99 minutes[1]
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$48 million[1]
Box office$16.7 million[1]

The film was released on July 1, 1994 by 20th Century Fox in the United States to both critical and commercial failure, grossing only $16.7 million against a $48 million budget. Despite this, it has since become a cult film.[2][3]

Plot

Bennington Austin "Bink" Cotwell IV, the infant son of socialites Laraine and Bennington Austin "Bing" Cotwell III, lives in a huge mansion in a suburb of Chicago and is just about to appear in the social pages of the newspaper. Three klutzy criminals, Edgar "Eddie" Mauser, Norbert "Norby" LeBlaw, and Victor "Veeko" Riley, disguise themselves as baby photographers from the newspaper and kidnap him, demanding a $5 million ransom. After the kidnapping, however, the criminals have difficulty controlling Bink at their apartment. Norby attempts to put him to sleep by reading his favorite storybook, Baby's Day Out (or "Boo-boo", as he calls it), only to fall asleep himself from boredom, leaving Bink unattended. Looking through the book, Bink notices a bird on the page and then one by the window; he follows it out and successfully gets away from his kidnappers. The ensuing chase culminates in Eddie falling off the building and into a garbage bin. Norby and Veeko rescue him and they begin pursuing Bink across the city.

The FBI arrives at the mansion, headed by Dale Grissom, where they try to piece together clues along with Bink's parents and his nanny, Gilbertine. Meanwhile, Bink, now outside on the ground and crawling about, finds another part of his book – the blue bus, which he then boards. The criminals realize he is escaping and start chasing the bus in their van, but their efforts are in vain. Meanwhile, on the bus, Bink crawls into the bag of an obese lady who gets off at her stop shortly afterwards. By the time the criminals catch the bus, they realize Bink is not on board and follow the lady, leading to an altercation after she catches them. In the distraction, Bink crawls up to a revolving door at the entrance to a department store and is forced inwards by its momentum. He is stopped by an employee who works for the store's day care center, believing he is another baby who escaped from there. He then escapes from the store and eventually crawls into traffic after a ride on a taxi. The criminals attempt to follow him, but keep getting injured in the process as he makes his way to the city zoo. They are shocked to find him in the ape house with a western lowland gorilla, which shows a maternal side and does not injure him. The criminals try to retrieve him, but the gorilla notices and pounds Veeko's hand, throws Norby into the air using a mop as a catapult, and hurls Eddie against the bars of the opposite cage after roaring loudly at him.

The criminals corner and catch Bink in the zoo's park, but are confronted by two friendly police officers who have noticed that their van's engine is still running. During the conversation, Eddie hides Bink under his coat in his lap, but Bink reaches his cigarette lighter, setting his crotch on fire and sneaking off as soon as the officers are gone. Veeko extinguishes the fire by stomping repeatedly on Eddie's groin. They then follow Bink to a construction site where they're still unable to catch him due to Veeko getting thrown off the building and into the back of a garbage truck, Norby falling into a vat of wet cement, and Eddie getting stranded on a crane after being drenched in glue. The sun then sets as Bink and the construction crew leave the site. After managing to escape, the criminals give up on catching Bink and return home.

Bink's parents are notified of various sightings of him in the city and Gilbertine deduces that he has been following Baby's Day Out, and will most likely head for the Old Soldiers' Home next. They find him there, but on the way home, he begins to call out "Boo-Boo" toward the criminals' flat; the FBI forces them to return Bink's book and then arrest them.

Back at home, he is put to bed by his parents, who discuss having his picture taken by a normal photographer in the morning while, unbeknownst to them, he wakes up and gets ready to read another book titled Baby's Trip to China.

Cast

Starring

Supporting

Reception

Critical response

The film was panned by critics. On Rotten Tomatoes, it has a "Rotten" score of 20% based on 15 reviews with an average rating of 3.89/10.[4]

On the Siskel & Ebert show, critic Roger Ebert wrote that "Baby's Day Out contains gags that might have worked in a Baby Herman cartoon, but in live action, with real people, taxis, buses, streets, and a real baby, they're just not funny. The Worton twins are adorable as Baby Bink, however; the audience produced an audible coo the first time they saw him on the screen." He gave the film one-and-a-half stars out of four.[5] His partner, Gene Siskel, however, liked it because he thought that young children would love it for the humor.

Hal Hinson, writing for the Washington Post, wrote: "The pace is quick and efficient but never frantic...almost everything in the picture is just right, including the two-bit crooks who abduct the superhero toddler and end up bruised and begging hilariously for mercy. Best of all, though, is the Binkman himself, whose tiny face is so expressive that he brings new meaning to the phrase 'conquering with a smile.'"[6]

Box office

The film opened with takings of $4,044,662 at the start of July 1994.[7][8][9] It finally grossed $16,827,402 at the domestic box office, a disappointing return considering the $48 million production budget. It ranked at #83 for the best performing films of 1994.[1]

Despite failing at the box office, the film was also the 26th best performing PG-rated family film of the year in 1994.[1]

Year-end lists

Popularity in India and remakes

The film was tremendously popular in India. It was played at the largest theatre in Calcutta for over a year. Recalling a trip to Calcutta, Roger Ebert said, "I asked if Star Wars had been their most successful American film. No, I was told, it was Baby's Day Out".[2] It was remade in Telugu in 1995 under the title Sisindri, the latter was in turn then remade in Malayalam in 1999 under the title James Bond.[3]

Cancelled video game

A video game adaptation of the film was planned, completed and slated to be released on Super Nintendo Entertainment System, Sega Genesis, and Game Boy in October 1994,[12][13] but was cancelled shortly before release. Instead of playing as Bink, the player would have controlled his guardian angel in order to guide him to safety in the vein of Pac-Man 2: The New Adventures. Despite its cancellation, an advertisement for the game is included on the film's VHS release. Two prototypes of the Genesis port have surfaced online in subsequent years; one is a near completed version while the other is a very early beta.

Home media

20th Century Fox Home Entertainment released the film on VHS on April 4, 1995, and on DVD on January 29, 2001. Special features include Patrick Read Johnson's commentary, a featurette and a trailer for it. It was re-released on DVD on October 11, 2011.

References
  1. "Baby's Day Out (1994)". Box Office Mojo. Amazon.com. Retrieved June 19, 2009.
  2. Ebert, Roger (August 6, 2009). "John Hughes: In Memory". Rogerebert.com. Retrieved February 23, 2015.
  3. Kurp, Joshua (September 28, 2011). "The Legacy of Baby's Day Out, the Only Comedy Movie I've Ever Walked Out On". Vulture. Retrieved June 25, 2018.
  4. Baby's Day Out at Rotten Tomatoes
  5. Ebert, Roger (July 1, 1994). "Baby's Day Out review". rogerebert.com. Chicago Sun Times. Retrieved June 19, 2009.
  6. Hinson, Hal (July 1, 1994). "'Baby's Day Out'". The Washington Post. Retrieved June 19, 2009.
  7. "Weekend Box Office Results for July 1–4, 1994". Box Office Mojo. Amazon.com. Retrieved June 19, 2009.
  8. "Fourth of July Weekend Box Office". Los Angeles Times. July 7, 1994. Retrieved January 12, 2011.
  9. "Baby's Day Out – Box Office Data". thenumbers.com. The Numbers. Archived from the original on May 23, 2009. Retrieved June 19, 2009.
  10. Simon, Jeff (January 1, 1995). "Movies: Once More, with Feeling". The Buffalo News. Retrieved July 19, 2020.
  11. Webster, Dan (January 1, 1995). "In Year of Disappointments, Some Movies Still Delivered". The Spokesman-Review (Spokane ed.). p. 2.
  12. videoreviewchris (August 6, 2013). "Baby's Day Out-Video Game Trailer". YouTube. Retrieved November 26, 2014.
  13. "ProReview: Baby's Day Out". GamePro (64). IDG. November 1994. p. 104.
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