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Movies / On DVD / Raising Helen
Raising Helen

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Raising Helen (2004)

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Reviews Counted:34

Fresh:6

Rotten:28

Average Rating:4.7/10

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 AwardŽ 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 AwardŽ 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 date)
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    [Garry Marshall] piles on the cornball touches with the sledgehammer effect of a bad sitcom director.

    Full Review Source: Ebert & Roeper | comment Comment
    06/07/04
    Richard Roeper
    Richard Roeper
    Ebert & Roeper
    Top Critic Icon Top Critic

    This ode to the most stifling aspects of family and motherhood make you feel like the hicks have all uprooted themselves and moved into the front office at Touchstone.

    Full Review Source: Salon.com | comment Comment
    05/29/04
    Charles Taylor
    Charles Taylor
    Salon.com
    Top Critic Icon Top Critic

    Almost nothing about Raising Helen rings very true, other than the camera's crush on Kate Hudson.

    Full Review Source: USA Today | comment Comment
    05/28/04
    Mike Clark
    Mike Clark
    USA Today
    Top Critic Icon Top Critic

    Even those who seek the undemanding entertainment of life troubles being bravely dealt with might end up wishing they were given more than just sitcom resolutions.

    Full Review Source: Toronto Star | comment Comment
    05/28/04
    Peter Howell
    Peter Howell
    Toronto Star
    Top Critic Icon Top Critic

    Far from the worst cookie-cutter film to come off the Hollywood assembly line, merely the latest.

    Full Review Source: San Francisco Chronicle | comment Comment
    05/28/04
    Ruthe Stein
    Ruthe Stein
    San Francisco Chronicle
    Top Critic Icon Top Critic

    Like tumbling into chick-flick hell.

    Full Review Source: Rolling Stone | comment Comment
    05/28/04
    Peter Travers
    Peter Travers
    Rolling Stone
    Top Critic Icon Top Critic

    Does its inoffensive comedy bit. It's all professional, predictable, by the numbers.

    Full Review Source: Newark Star-Ledger | comment Comment
    05/28/04
    Stephen Whitty
    Stephen Whitty
    Newark Star-Ledger
    Top Critic Icon Top Critic

    Can't decide whether it's a romance, a fish-out- of-water flick, a teen-parent conflict story, or a tale of sibling rivalry and reconciliation, and therefore fails at each.

    Full Review Source: New York Post | comment Comment
    05/28/04
    Jonathan Foreman
    Jonathan Foreman
    New York Post
    Top Critic Icon Top Critic

    Rest assured, these crises will be resolved, and Helen will be enriched by the experiences. But going through them with her throws more sugar into your system than I can take.

    Full Review Source: New York Daily News | comment Comment
    05/28/04
    Jack Mathews
    Jack Mathews
    New York Daily News
    Top Critic Icon Top Critic

    This dry-duct soaper chugs along in the Hollywood netherworld where humor and pathos are in short supply.

    Full Review Source: Los Angeles Times | comment Comment
    05/28/04
    Kevin Crust
    Kevin Crust
    Los Angeles Times
    Top Critic Icon Top Critic

    [Hudson] melds her radiance to a budding maternal soulfulness.

    Full Review Source: Houston Chronicle | comment Comment
    05/28/04
    Bruce Westbrook
    Bruce Westbrook
    Houston Chronicle
    Top Critic Icon Top Critic

    By no means a great movie, but it's efficiently watchable, thanks to Marshall's direction and occasionally buoyant thanks to its stars.

    Full Review Source: Detroit News | comment Comment
    05/28/04
    Tom Long
    Tom Long
    Detroit News
    Top Critic Icon Top Critic

    Like one of Marshall's less-original sitcom pilots stretched way beyond feature length.

    Full Review Source: Detroit Free Press | comment Comment
    05/28/04
    John Monaghan
    John Monaghan
    Detroit Free Press
    Top Critic Icon Top Critic

    Marshall, who seems to specialize in affability, breaks no new ground and doesn't do much with the old soil he tills.

    Full Review Source: Denver Rocky Mountain News | comment Comment
    05/28/04
    Robert Denerstein
    Robert Denerstein
    Denver Rocky Mountain News
    Top Critic Icon Top Critic

    Constantly warm and sometimes devastatingly real, showing just how hard it can be for a family to replace the early departed.

    Full Review Source: Denver Post | comment Comment
    05/28/04
    Michael Booth
    Michael Booth
    Denver Post
    Top Critic Icon Top Critic

    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

    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
    Top Critic Icon Top Critic

    Jumps back and forth between airy-fairy romantic comedy and leaden family drama with the alacrity of a manic-depressive.

    Full Review Source: Washington Post | comment Comment
    05/28/04
    Michael O'Sullivan
    Michael O'Sullivan
    Washington Post
    Top Critic Icon Top Critic

    As relentlessly cute as you'd expect from a Garry Marshall picture.

    Full Review Source: Globe and Mail | comment Comment
    05/28/04
    Rick Groen
    Rick Groen
    Globe and Mail
    Top Critic Icon Top Critic

    You are likely to encounter more surprises on the way to the bathroom each morning than you do in this film.

    Full Review Source: Washington Post | comment Comment
    05/28/04
    Stephen Hunter
    Stephen Hunter
    Washington Post
    Top Critic Icon Top Critic
     
     
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