Genre: Drama, Comedy, Love
Tagline: Helen help us.
Plot: In this heartwarming comedy from director Garry Marshall ("Runaway Bride," "The Princess Diaries"), Helen Harris (Academy Award® nominee KATE HUDSON) is living the life she always dreamed of. Her career at a top Manhattan modeling agency, working for Dominique (HELEN MIRREN), is on the rise; she spends her days at fashion shows and her nights at the city's hottest clubs. But her carefree lifestyle comes to a screeching halt when one phone call changes everything. Helen soon finds herself responsible for her sister's children -- 15-year-old Audrey (HAYDEN PANETTIERE), 10-year-old Henry (SPENCER BRESLIN), and 5-year-old Sarah (ABIGAIL BRESLIN). No one doubts that Helen is the coolest aunt in New York, but what does this glamour girl know about raising kids? The fun begins as Helen goes through the transformation from super hip to super mom, but she quickly finds that dancing at 3 a.m. doesn't mix with getting kids to school on time -- advice that Helen's older sister, Jenny (JOAN CUSACK), is only too quick to dish out. Along the way, Helen finds support in the most unusual place -- with Dan Parker (JOHN CORBETT), the handsome young pastor and principal of the kids' new school -- and realizes the choice she has to make is between the life she's always loved and the new loves of her
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 Raising Helen will likely appeal to those who appreciated Jersey Girl, although, to be frank, toned-down Smith still exhibits a lot more edge. This is mediocre summer fare at best, and its allure is strictly limited to a narrow target audience.  --James Berardinelli (ReelViews)
If you're a Christian Coalition member looking for a movie that reinforces all the homespun values you hold dear, this Kate Hudson vehicle is for you!--Charles Taylor (Salon)
'Raising Helen" is a perfectly pleasant comedy in which nice people do good things despite challenges which are difficult but not excessive. As a pilot for a TV sitcom it would probably be picked up, but it's not compelling enough to involve a trip to the movies. From beginning to end, we've been there, seen that. --Roger Ebert (Chicago Sun-Times)
“Raising Helen” is a transparent, coldly manipulative audience-pleasing comedy/drama that doesn’t deserve your attention, tears, or time. D---Brian Orndorf (FilmJerk.com)
Raising Helen feels wrong from the start, taking mature subjects and spinning them into candy-coated scenarios for a young audience that doesn’t know any better. It’s a terrible compromise, and the reason why Helen is better off only raising herself. Besides, why interrupt her magic time, especially for the 25- to 34-year-old guys?  --Pete Croatto (FilmCritic.com)
Overall, if you can't tell, Raising Helen suffers from a severe case of the cutes. Cute laughter. Cute tears. Heartbreakingly cute little kids. And a warm and fuzzy ending in which, surprise! Helen chooses the kids AND gets her dream job she always wanted back at the modeling agency. --Blake Snyder (MovieWeb)
A must-miss of snoringly mediocre proportions. 59/100--Brian Webster (Apollo Guide)
This film is about as trite and predictable as they come, but doesn't completely suck, thanks mostly to the ongoing charm and good looks of star Kate Hudson, the quirkiness of John Corbett and the presence of Joan Cusack. 4/10--'JoBlo' (JoBlo.com)
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| Cast |
Kate Hudson
Almost Famous, The Skeleton Key, How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days |
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 | Joan Cusack
Toy Story 2, High Fidelity, Grosse Pointe Blank |
 | Helen Mirren
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Gosford Park, Excalibur |
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 | Joseph Mazzello
Jurassic Park, The Lost World: Jurassic Park, Presumed Innocent |
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[more] |
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| Music By |
John Debney
Sin City, The Passion of the Christ, Bruce Almighty |
 | Mark Vogel
The Lonely Life of Downey Hall, Greasewood Flat |
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| If one is looking for an upbeat romantic comedy, look elsewhere because ‘Raising Helen’, despite what Disney would like you to believe, isn’t a light-hearted film. Instead, it is a lackluster attempt at melding comedy with drama that doesn’t work becauseof the schizophrenic way in which director Gary Marshall handles the material. --Joe Rickey (Movie-Gurus.com)
Raising Helen, a clever title that would have been better reserved for some distaff reworking of Friday the 13th, is instead attached to a formulaic suddenly-mother plot, directed by the king of sentimental situation comedy, Garry Marshall.--Shari L. Rosenblum (CineScene)
Raising Helen is a decent and entertaining film. But in the end, risks aren't taken and there is no real attempts to change the formula it follows so rigidly. In other hands it may have been a more interesting and complicated film. 5/10--Nate Anderson (Movie-Vault.com)
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