Educando A Helen

I loved Kate Hudson in Almost Famous, and a few people told me this film was good, so we rented it.

We did enjoy it. It had some very funny moments, and some very tender moments. Kate Hudson was good, but don't expect "Almost Famous" style brilliance out of her in this one. The rest of the cast performs about the same -- good performances, nothing stellar. Except perhaps Joan Cusack; her performance was very good.

If you have kids, say, about ten years old and older this is a good film to watch together with them -- it introduces them to a few teen and adult issues (dating, death, etc.) and shows the sorts of tough decisions that parents sometimes have to make. And you'll have lots of fun laughing together too.

Three sisters, played by two real actresses and one Hollywood daughter. One dies, one is overly stuffy and the third — who inherits the children — has the Devil-in-Prada life. Its the third sister the movie focuses on, but its Joan Cusack that steals this. She's the "unfun" sister.

Joan acts with her face to an extent that with anyone else, Jim Carey for instance, would only be comical. But she makes it real, as if she is a real character with someone inside pulling strings violently. But she shows us on the side that she (the actress) really does have this all under control. We don't have many actresses that can underdo overdoing it and make it work without having the whole project be invented around her.

She's really wonderful. I'm trying to find the film she wrote: "The Cabinet of Dr. Ramirez."

As for the movie: brand name fast food.

Ted's Evaluation -- 1 of 3: You can find something better to do with this part of your life.

Helen Harris (Kate Hudson) is living the high life in New York City and working for a top-modeling agency, when her sister and brother-in-law die in an auto accident. Her good times are over when she gets a letter from her sister's attorney. Helen has been given custody of her sister's three children. Helen has never raised any children, and she thinks her older sister, Jenny (Joan Cusack) is better qualified to raise the children. Helen accepts the custody of the three children, and they move to a new apartment in Queens. Helen loved staying out late and going to nightclubs, but she now has to take care of the children. Helen is forced to change her lifestyle and become a real mom, which in turn gets her fired from her glamorous job. In the end, Helen learns what is really important in life. This is a heartwarming and cute comedy that will make you tear up. It is the type of movie that your girlfriend or wife will drag her mate to see. In other words, it will appeal more to women than men. (Touchstone Pictures, Run time 1:59, Rated PG-13) (6/10)

When I first saw the trailers for this movie, I thought it might be cute, but I had reservations because everything I've seen Kate Hudson in since "Almost Famous" has been quite disappointing. This one, she finally picked a winner. It didn't hurt that her costar is John Corbett. The two of them actually have pretty good chemistry, and the three kids are cute without being annoying. There were lots of tears in this one...more tears than laughs, maybe. It is a great "chick flick". I will have to wait for the DVD to see the end credits because the theater flubbed up and cut off the film right after the final music crescendoed and you could tell the credits were coming. How annoying. Anyway, I digress. Not sure why this is rated PG13, because I don't remember anything blatantly offensive. Again, I wonder why filmmakers can't just be a little more "delicate" and get those PG ratings. There are so few movies we can enjoy as a family...this one I will probably allow my 9 year old to see. Many people won't because of the rating. Too bad. I recommend this one.

"Raising Helen" is a formulaic romantic comedy that makes you wonder when Kate Hudson will again find a role that will actually allow her to stretch herself as an actress, fulfilling the promise she made half a decade ago in "Almost Famous." Since then it's been mostly downhill for Hudson, and the ironically titled "Raising Helen" does nothing to help arrest or reverse that slide.

Hudson plays Helen Harris, a young woman whose budding career in the fashion industry is suddenly cut short when her sister and brother-in-law are killed in a car accident, leaving Helen to raise their three children. Things go from bad to worse, as the once carefree Helen struggles with the trials and tribulations and life-changing vicissitudes of unplanned motherhood.

This is a typical Garry Marshall film in that, even when it tries to deal with "real world" issues such as death, loss, grief, sibling rivalry, teenage angst etc., it does so in only the most superficial, glossy and unconvincing of terms. Heck, there's even a hunky, hockey-playing Lutheran minister on hand - the kind one can only find in movies - to provide spiritual as well as romantic comfort for those times when the going gets to be just a bit too tough for the harried guardian.

The performances are uniformly uninteresting, but I choose to blame the shallow writing rather than the actors in this case. It's particularly painful to see actresses of the caliber of Felicity Huffman and Joan Cusack cast adrift in this sea of "chick flick" platitudes and feel-good movie clichés - but everyone in this film suffers a similar fate.