CORPORATE LINE: 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.
THE GOOD: John Corbett as Pastor Dan is delightful. He is so charismatic you have to wonder why he doesn’t get more leading man rolls. Kate Hudson takes a pedestrian character and makes it work. You feel emotionally attached to her, so much that many of those at the screening walked out teary-eyed. I won’t admit to crying because it just wouldn’t be manly. Joan Cusack is fantastic as the uptight mother who is a lot like most parents who care—overbearing but her heart is in the right place.
The story works because it plays on our worst nightmare—losing a family member and trying to pick up the pieces. There is no glamorizing raising children, if anything it offers a sense of how hard it can be and there is no glamorizing life because it can be a struggle.
THE BAD: Almost making me cry.
FRANKLY: Raising Helen didn’t resist getting Hollywood-ized and even with its Disney ending there are some lessons that can be learned. Yes, life is tough, but you have to work through it. Most of us don’t do that in an hour and a half, but neither does the film. Hudson and Corbett have a wonderful chemistry and because it isn’t forced upon us its allowed to blossom without endless scenes of lovemaking. It’s chemistry from a distance that can often be more enjoyable than Hollywood shoving skin flicks down our throats.
+ Charlie Craine
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