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Raising Helen

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Raising Helen (2004)

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Reviews Counted:124

Fresh:27

Rotten:97

Average Rating:4.6/10

Consensus: As shallow and formulaic as a sitcom.

Rated: PG-13 [See Full Rating] for thematic issues involving teens

Runtime: 1 hr 54 mins

Genre: Comedies

Theatrical Release:May 28, 2004 Wide

Box Office: $37,379,556

Synopsis: 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... 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 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 life. -- © Touchstone Pictures [More]

Starring: Kate Hudson, Hayden Panettiere, Abigail Breslin, Spencer Breslin

Starring: Kate Hudson, Hayden Panettiere, Abigail Breslin, Spencer Breslin, Joan Cusack, John Corbett, Helen Mirren, Hector Elizondo

Director: Garry Marshall

Director: Garry Marshall
Screenwriter: Jack Amiel, Michael Begler
Producer: David Hoberman, Ashok Amritraj, Mario Iscovich, Ellen H. Schwartz
Studio: Buena Vista Pictures

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Release:

Oct 12, 2004

[DVD Details]
 
 
  • Raising Helen
  • Academy Award(R) nominee Kate Hudson (Best Supporting Actress, ALMOST FAMOUS, 2000; HOW TO LOSE A GUY IN 10 DAYS) lights up the screen with John Corbett (MY BIG FAT GREEK WEDDING) in this hit romantic comedy from the director of THE PRINCESS DIARIES and PRETTY WOMAN! Helen Harris (Hudson) has a glamorous, big-city life ... working for one of New York's hottest modeling agencies. But suddenly her free-spirited life gets turned upside down when she must chose between the life she?s always loved ... and the new loves of her life! Also starring Joan Cusack (IN & OUT), RAISING HELEN is a laugh-filled treat you're sure to fall in love with!
  • Source: Buena Vista Home Entertainment.
  •  
     
     
     

    Reviews for Raising Helen

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    1 - 20 (sorted by source)
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    You know those scenes in Shrek 2 in which Puss in Boots stops and makes cutesy, goo-goo kitty eyes at people? Well, this movie is like that look.

    Full Review Source: Aisle Seat | comment Comment
    06/02/04
    Mike McGranaghan
    Mike McGranaghan
    Aisle Seat

    A must-miss of snoringly mediocre proportions.

    Full Review Source: Apollo Guide | comment Comment
    05/10/04
    Brian Webster
    Brian Webster
    Apollo Guide

    Hudson is fatally miscast, and it's nearly impossible to watch the film and not imagine that a still-youthful but more world-weary star would have made a better fit.

    Full Review Source: Arizona Daily Star | comment Comment
    05/28/04
    Phil Villarreal
    Phil Villarreal
    Arizona Daily Star

    As much as we want to wrap our hearts around this wannabe uplifting tearjerker, it's just too shallow to embrace.

    Full Review Source: Arizona Republic | comment Comment
    05/27/04
    Kathy Cano Murillo
    Kathy Cano Murillo
    Arizona Republic
    Top Critic Icon Top Critic

    One of those bogus 'sincere' pictures -- a schmaltz-ridden mediocrity without an honest moment in it.

    Full Review Source: Atlanta Journal-Constitution | comment Comment
    05/27/04
    Eleanor Ringel Gillespie
    Eleanor Ringel Gillespie
    Atlanta Journal-Constitution
    Top Critic Icon Top Critic

    ...sweet-as-Splenda Garry Marshall pipedream...

    Full Review Source: Atlantic City Weekly | comment Comment
    06/28/04
    Lori Hoffman
    Lori Hoffman
    Atlantic City Weekly

    Click to read the article

    Full Review Source: Austin Chronicle | comment Comment
    06/05/04
    Kimberly Jones
    Kimberly Jones
    Austin Chronicle

    This isn't funny enough or dramatic enough.

    Full Review Source: BBC | comment Comment
    06/15/04
    Stella Papamichael
    Stella Papamichael
    BBC

    The best part of Raising Helen, beside the welcomed scroll of its end credits? Read on->

    Full Review Source: Blunt Review | comment Comment
    05/27/04
    Emily Blunt
    Emily Blunt
    Blunt Review

    Boils down every feel-good chick-flick cliche of the last 15 years into a lumpy mass of multiplex comfort food.

    Full Review Source: Boston Globe | comment Comment
    05/28/04
    Ty Burr
    Ty Burr
    Boston Globe
    N/R

    Click to read the article

    Full Review Source: Boston Phoenix | comment Comment
    05/29/04
    Boston Phoenix

    All the adorability in the world can't save Hudson from another plug-ugly comedy.

    Full Review Source: Boulder Weekly | comment Comment
    06/09/04
    Thomas Delapa
    Thomas Delapa
    Boulder Weekly

    Faced with the constraints of not one but two heavily formulaic genres, Raising Helen simply feels too much like a template and not enough like a story.

    Full Review Source: Boxoffice Magazine | comment Comment
    05/28/04
    Wade Major
    Wade Major
    Boxoffice Magazine

    Tame and timid from beginning to end, and relentlessly conventional.

    Full Review Source: Chicago Sun-Times | comment Comment
    05/28/04
    Roger Ebert
    Roger Ebert
    Chicago Sun-Times
    Top Critic Icon Top Critic

    You can take the director out of television, but sometimes you can't take television out of the director.

    Full Review Source: Chicago Tribune | comment Comment
    05/27/04
    Mark Caro
    Mark Caro
    Chicago Tribune
    Top Critic Icon Top Critic

    Great premise, but the ensuing trials and tribulations -- not to mention hapless attempts at comedy -- are ... off-key.

    Full Review Source: Christian Science Monitor | comment Comment
    05/27/04
    Stephen Humphries
    Stephen Humphries
    Christian Science Monitor

    As far as heartwarming comedies go, this one has all the parts necessary: the heart, the warmth, and the comedy.

    Full Review Source: Christianity Today | comment Comment
    11/01/06
    CT Staff
    CT Staff
    Christianity Today
    N/R

    Click to read the article

    Full Review Source: Cinema Crazed | comment Comment
    04/29/09
    Felix Vasquez Jr.
    Felix Vasquez Jr.
    Cinema Crazed

    A gift-wrapped view of pathos -- so sanitized it’s almost creepy.

    Full Review Source: Coast (Halifax, Nova Scotia) | comment Comment
    06/16/04
    Mark Palermo
    Mark Palermo
    Coast (Halifax, Nova Scotia)
    N/R

    Click to read the article

    Full Review Source: Combustible Celluloid | comment Comment
    05/26/06
    Jeffrey M. Anderson
    Jeffrey M. Anderson
    Combustible Celluloid
     
     
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