Film
What's on at the cinema plus reviews of the latest movie and DVD releases
Bookmark this pageRaising Helen (2004)
Director: Garry Marshall
Movie review
From Time Out London
The Helen in question (Kate Hudson) is a sunny rep at a Manhattan modelling agency, with a cute walk-up apartment and ready access to randy, photogenic young lads. If she had her own sitcom, she’d be safe for many a season of dating mishaps, workplace cock-ups, and conspicuously plush interior design; since she’s stuck in a big-screen serio-comedy, however, she must be swiftly rehabilitated of her egocentric ways – and what better means to catapult this blithe spirit into the world of grown-ups than to kill off her sister and entrust her with three orphaned kids?This improbable custody arrangement infuriates Helen’s other sister, Jenny (Joan Cusack), a frightfully high-strung professional mom, while enforced parenthood exiles Helen to the exotic wilds of Queens, where a wacky Indian lady bearing samosas promptly alights at her peeling door and John Corbett shuffles in for yet another tour of duty as the bland requisite love interest. Since the movie eventually posits Jenny as the trove of all earthly wisdom for having reproduced, it’s especially ironic that the inconvenient children get knocked around like pool balls during Helen’s zigzag journey of the self.
Author: JWin
Time Out London Issue 1775: August 25-September 1, 2004
Cast & crew
Director: Garry Marshall
Cast: Kate Hudson, Joan Cusack, John Corbett
Rated: PG
Duration: 119 mins
Most popular on this site
Top Stories
Has David Cronenberg turned tame?
Has director David Cronenberg veered too far from his radical and bloody roots with new film 'A Dangerous Method'?
The 10 worst date movies
Just in time for Valentine's Day, we present ten of the least romantic films ever made
Where to watch this year's Oscar-nominated films
Find out where to watch 2012's Oscar-nominated films in London cinemas
10 unlikely badboy biopics
Featuring Phil Collins, Jeremy Clarkson, Nick Clegg, David Starkey and a host of other unlikely subjects
Interview: Sean Durkin on 'Martha Marcy May Marlene'
The first-time director of the brilliant new thriller discusses religious cults and robot boxing
Pop-up cinema for Valentine's Day
Side-step romantic clichés with some alternative Valentine’s viewing
What do you think?
Post your review now