... sorry to say it was not a very happy or easy experience.
`Raising Helen' stars the vivacious Kate Hudson. Her performance is the best thing in this movie. While the movie is supposed to be a comedy-drama rated PG-13, I'm not sure who this movie is for. The story is too saccharine and simplistic. We're supposed to believe that there can be a comic upside to three kids losing both their parents.
Kate Hudson plays Helen Harris, the lucky aunt who is named as guardian for her two nieces and her nephew. These children sustain the terrible tragedy of losing both parents in a traffic accident. To her credit, Hudson keeps us involved as she moves through the trials and tribulations of this slight script. This may be billed as a `feel good' movie, but it really only sustains that feeling until you think about it more deeply, or have some experience with children who have suffered parental loss in real life.
More in a minute about what I don't like about `Raising Helen' but first a few positives. Joan Cusack turns in an excellent performance as Jenny, Helen's sister and the aunt who was passed over for guardianship. She delivers a finely sculpted character who, at one and the same time, wants to support Helen but is pained by not having been the chosen aunt. Helen Mirren does well as Dominique, Helen's employer and the rest of the cast, including the kids and John Corbett as the love interest, do what is expected of them.
So what's wrong here? What's wrong is that three kids losing two loving parents in car accident is an experience that these kids will be lucky to survive without serious psychological damage. The plot attempts to tell us that this is just a comical challenge for their young winsome aunt. The movie is dishonest because it tries to convince us that it's too bad that Mom and Dad are dead -- but, with someone like Aunt Helen, all will be well.
So -- Kate, you did a good job -- except in your decision to act in this flick. Director Garry Marshall, you did a good job except in deciding to make this movie. My advice to the audience is -- go to this film only if you want to see a movie based on a false premise. In retrospect, this film will leave you feeling like you drank the soda pop enthusiastically, but the fizz was already gone. Rate it a 6/10.
`Raising Helen' stars the vivacious Kate Hudson. Her performance is the best thing in this movie. While the movie is supposed to be a comedy-drama rated PG-13, I'm not sure who this movie is for. The story is too saccharine and simplistic. We're supposed to believe that there can be a comic upside to three kids losing both their parents.
Kate Hudson plays Helen Harris, the lucky aunt who is named as guardian for her two nieces and her nephew. These children sustain the terrible tragedy of losing both parents in a traffic accident. To her credit, Hudson keeps us involved as she moves through the trials and tribulations of this slight script. This may be billed as a `feel good' movie, but it really only sustains that feeling until you think about it more deeply, or have some experience with children who have suffered parental loss in real life.
More in a minute about what I don't like about `Raising Helen' but first a few positives. Joan Cusack turns in an excellent performance as Jenny, Helen's sister and the aunt who was passed over for guardianship. She delivers a finely sculpted character who, at one and the same time, wants to support Helen but is pained by not having been the chosen aunt. Helen Mirren does well as Dominique, Helen's employer and the rest of the cast, including the kids and John Corbett as the love interest, do what is expected of them.
So what's wrong here? What's wrong is that three kids losing two loving parents in car accident is an experience that these kids will be lucky to survive without serious psychological damage. The plot attempts to tell us that this is just a comical challenge for their young winsome aunt. The movie is dishonest because it tries to convince us that it's too bad that Mom and Dad are dead -- but, with someone like Aunt Helen, all will be well.
So -- Kate, you did a good job -- except in your decision to act in this flick. Director Garry Marshall, you did a good job except in deciding to make this movie. My advice to the audience is -- go to this film only if you want to see a movie based on a false premise. In retrospect, this film will leave you feeling like you drank the soda pop enthusiastically, but the fizz was already gone. Rate it a 6/10.