Raising Helen (2004)

That was an excellent one.

It's easily one of the freshest, sharpest and most enjoyable films of this year.

The best films of this genre always show a path and provide a takeaway for being a better person.

Blistering performances.

It's a movie where the best of it is its double meaning title! It's not a bad movie; just an OK. I think big part of its problem (that didn't make it an "excellent" one) is that it didn't want to make comedy while it had all the capacities, it relayed on very easy solutions and recycled stuff (the storyline of the teen girl and the party reminded me of a too similar one, in the too similar movie, Uncle Buck !), and finally it lacked the surprises so much. So according to that the outcome was something between traditional and boring.Being unbelievably predictable isn't the tragedy here, we know the formula, and experienced it dozens of time before. But this movie couldn't make its material creative, its stalemates hard to solve, and its case effective. For instance there wasn't a good deal of problems around the lead. The teen girl forgave her utterly naively at the end. The boyfriend of (Paris Hilton) got an amputated storyline (most probably the movie makers forgot about him later ?!). And that lover priest didn't produce anything; comedy nor romance. His storyline was extremely blank. Obviously the movie doesn't score high, or actually score, when it comes to comedy or romance.The dialog was poor except for couple of lines I liked, however irrelevant to the main story, like "we don't sell used cars, we sell cars that had a previous owner", or "you're not a bad person, but what you did was very bad". I hated using big, real big, names like (Helen Mirren) and (Hector Elizondo) in trivial, rather cameos of roles. And it doesn't need an expert to know well that this is a (Joan Cusack) movie. Although, I'm not a fan of her (sometimes I can't just look at her !), but it takes a nut to not admitting that her character was the hardest, most attractive, one. And she nailed it, being the most memorable factor about this movie as a whole. In any case I prefer another not-a-kids-person-with-kids or from-ignorant-to-parent movies like (The Pacifier), or (Big Momma's House 2) both from the next year 2005; simply – while being average themselves – they did have some things to be watched more than (Raising Helen). Finally, it's kind of indolent movie, that doesn't want to be watchable enough, or know much about the situation it deals with. Yet can be used to spend 100 minutes with lovely cast, totally uncomplicated time, and (Kate Hudson)'s smile & chic clothes if you don't have any useful things to do!

I first saw this when I bought this is on DVD a while ago. It was a great film but there were some sad bits. It is about the death of Paul and Lindsay who left her youngest sister Helen to be guardian of her three children Audrey, Sarah and Henry. The one thing that annoyed me about this film was Joan Cusack's character Jenny, the character got on my nerves I found her smug when Helen gave the kids to her after Audrey went to the hotel with the boy from her high school. Abigail Breslin was adorable as the youngest child Sarah, Spencer Breslin and Hayden Paniettere were great as the older siblings Audrey and Henry. Helen Mirren was great as Helen's boss Dominique.

Kate Hudson is just adorable. This movie enhances her status as an enjoyable and funny leading lady. Let's hope she doesn't dwell on this type of movie though.The kids are cute as well, except for the boy. He just really annoys the hell out of me. They should cast him as a little psychopath in his next movie, then he'd be cool again.Joan Cusack delivered yet another great performance. The character just really suits her, bitter and sad, but ultimately right and still caring.What I really liked about the movie though was not the portrayal of the priest by John Corbett, but the incorporation of this type character into a romantic comedy. Nowadays, religion is such a big deal. But in the movie, the "holy" angle of being a priest is neither explored nor exploited, giving way for the viewer to just enjoy the romance unfolding."Raising Helen" is an ideal movie for a "date", family evening and even Sunday school movie afternoon.

Helen (Kate Hudson) is living the high life in New York. Attending photo shoots and hitting the hottest clubs, all as part of her job in a modeling agency. In her nephews and nieces' eyes, she is the most coolest aunt they can have.But it halted the moment her sister and brother-in-law were killed in a car accident. And overnight, she became the guardian to their three children. For someone who knows nothing about parenting, she is almost at her wits' end. She wondered why her late sister would trust her doing the job and not their other sister Jenny (Joan Cusack) who is a mother herself.Along the way, we can see how Helen while struggling to keep her job, trying to handle three different children with very different personalities. It was difficult for a woman who is so used to the high life to come back to reality of a sudden, but Helen soon knows her way out.The ending is kind of predictable, but some real-life lessons are there.