Raising Helen

Plot synopsis:
Helen Harris (Kate Hudson) and Lindsay (Felicity Huffman) were raised by their oldest sister, Jenny (Joan Cusack), after their mother died when Helen was seven. Now Helen is very successful in the fashion industry, working as the executive assistant to the CEO of one of Manhattan's most prestigious modeling agencies, and now has a nice Manhattan lifestyle which keeps her extremely occupied and content. But Helen's world suddenly changes when Lindsay and brother-in-law Paul (Sean O'Bryan) die in a car accident, leaving behind three children, turning everyone's life upside down.
Helen and Jenny are in shock when they hear Lindsay and Paul left Helen in charge of their three kids: 15-year-old Audrey (Hayden Panettiere), 10-year-old Henry (Spencer Breslin), and five-year-old Sarah (Abigail Breslin). Nobody expected Helen to be named guardian of the children especially since Jenny was already a super mom with two children and a third on the way. But a letter left to Helen by Lindsay convinces her that she can take care of the children. And Helen decides to do it on her own terms, which means raising the children and maintaining her already fast-paced schedule. But as work and children begin to interfere, Helen quickly finds herself burnt out and disheartened by her responsibilities and Jenny's lack of faith in her parenting.
Despite her already hectic schedule, Helen finds the time to develop a genuine affection for her new dependents, as well as an equally genuine attraction to Dan Parker (John Corbett), the kids' school principal and local Lutheran pastor. Busy trying to appease the children and adjust to suddenly being a mom, Helen's concentration on her job begins to slip and she is fired from Dominique (Helen Mirren). Stuck between a rock and a hard place, she is forced to become a receptionist at a car dealership. Things begin to look better for her as she bonds with the children and their sexy principal, and finally begins to get the hang of being a mom. But Audrey, struggling to come to terms with her parents' death, begins to fall in with the wrong crowd and date the wrong kind of guy. When she disappears from the school prom with her new boyfriend BZ to go find a motel, Helen is forced to call in Jenny as back-up to search all over New York to find Audrey. Unable to confront Audrey and risk the girl's hatred, once they track her down, Helen turns the parenting reins over to Jenny. This makes Helen realize that she isn't cut out to be a parent and so she turns the children over into Jenny's custody.
Helen returns to her wild lifestyle full of partying and booze, but feels much less fulfilled than she had been before she became responsible for the children. She begins to find herself dissatisfied and depressed and so returns to Jenny's house to beg her to let her take the children back home. She eventually convinces Jenny that she's finally ready to be a parent when she puts her foot down and shows Audrey who's boss. Jenny, who was listening to Helen talking to the children, still refuses to give the kids back to her. Helen leaves, and sits alone on a bench near a swing set. There, she is visited once again by Jenny, who gives her the letter that Lindsay had written for Jenny. Helen reads the letter, which explains that Lindsay decided to choose Helen because it's about choosing someone who is more like herself, someone who can really give the children the mother they really want. While watching out her window, Helen turns around with joy when the kids arrive, now hers.
The film ends with Helen, Dan and the kids walking along a pier, and Sarah sits on a bench and ties her shoes all by herself.

Tags: romantic, cute

Review:
Instead of naming the more domestic sister, Jenny, as the guardian, Lindsay knew something that the other two siblings didn't know in trusting her three children to Helen."Raising Helen" deals with the trials and tribulations of Helen as she comes to terms with her new situation.
She also finds a good man in the Lutheran pastor who falls in love with her from the moment she enrolls the kids in his school.Kate Hudson is a beautiful woman with an angelic face that keeps the viewer recalling her mother, Goldie Hawn.
"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..
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.
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.
The single and successful executive of the fashion world, Helen Harris (Kate Hudson), becomes the guardian of her two nieces and one nephew after the death of her sister and her brother-in-law.
I like Joan Cusack, Hector Elizondo, Kate Hudson and John Corbett, I tried to like this movie, but the screenplay is a shallow unbelievable crap.
However, John Corbett (who plays a Lutheran pastor) has a great line when he tells Kate, "I'm a sexy man of God, and I know it."Joan Cusack does a pretty good job as well.
But this scene is what mothers and aunts dream about.If you want to see a much better movie dealing with a similar "my lifestyle will completely change because of this tragedy" theme, then I recommend "Jersey Girl." But those of you who are in dire need of some big-screen Kate Hudson should be satisfied as long as you're not looking for a movie to challenge you or have you guffawing in your seat.
But guys, if you like Kate Hudson, then it's not the worst movie to sit through if you wanna score some points by taking your lady to see this.
Typical Hollywood romantic comedy, which is neither romantic, nor funny.There's no interesting plot, actors are so poorly directed that it's obvious, and the pace of the movie is so slow that it feels twice as long as it really is.I made a mistake of starting to watch it just because my wife rented it, without checking IMDb first.
But the resounding message that is sent is that sometimes we think we know what we want, then when a life-altering experience happens, we rethink what we originally thought.I loved the script writing in this movie-- very entertaining and intelligent.
Kate Hudson is Helen Harris, an agent at one of New York's top modeling agencies, who finds herself caring for three children after her sister and brother-in-law are killed in a car accident.
Helping her cope are her sister (Cusack) and the good-looking pastor and principal at the kids' school, played by John Corbett.Raising Helen is a harmless film with good intentions but it suffers from a long running time.
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.
All in all...this movie's worth a watch, especially for those who like watching a feel-good romantic comedy!The Asian neighbour and Kate's boss at the modelling agency have done justice to their characters.
We have the cute kid, the rebellious girl taking on authority, the sidekick neighbor needed for comic relief (in this case, she's Indian), the humorous love interest (there's even a lovers' montage, albeit a quick one) and the responsible sibling.Joan Cusack, as the strict sister who bosses her fetus because it's never to early to teach manners, proves she's much better than the thin material with which she's working.
Unfortunately, Hudson hasn't been given a good role since "Almost Famous" (2000).In "Raising Helen," she's not given anything funny to work with.
I haven't seen a Kate Hudson movie in a while so I decided to give 'Raising Helen' a chance.
I was pleasantly surprised to see many other talented actresses like Felicity Huffman, Helen Mirren (both these great actresses are grossly wasted) and Joan Cusack (a sheer delight).
Hudson does a decent job in the lead role as the conflicted sister who is barely older than the oldest child as she makes the usual adjustments while trying to date the children's principal / Pastor and track down the eldest daughter complete with hormone nuclear cushion.
This does that.This movie is about a girl named Helen, who lives an out there life trying to raise kids.
It can't decide whether it is a comedy making jokes about how Helen's life falls apart but, of course, bounces back because of her great spirit (there's a guy in there, too) or a drama about three kids who've lost their parents and continue to loose their lives because their new caregiver can't help them.
When her sister and brother-in-law are killed in a car accident and surprisingly will their children to Helen instead of her other sister, the uptight, straight-edge suburban Mom Jenny (Joan Cusack), much predictable, candy-colored comedy and life lessons follow.
Kate Hudson is as likeable and charming as ever, almost making you forget that she's only been in two good movies (the great "Almost Famous" and the quirky, barely-noticed "Desert Blue").
( or maybe better?) Also, Joan Cusack is a great actress, I would have like to have seen her character more in the movie.
Stay-at-home moms should file a class-action suit against the makers of "Raising Helen" for its unflattering portrayal of their lives and concerns.Joan Cusack should sue the director, or better still her agent, for casting her in her worst role ever on film.
Since Helen is played by Goldie's Hawn's daughter (the same woman who produced such lib-forward entertainment as Private Benjamin, Protocol, and the First Wives Club)and looks like a million dollars, it's even more incredible this character wouldn't have help falling over her threshold in every shape and form.Since my impression of New Yorkers is that they use such issues as social chatter and prestige fodder, it's even harder to believe such charges wouldn't put her in the mainstream.
Instead of leaving the kids at the saintly sister's for a week, a sudden trip at work prompts her on the slide to losing her job.I'm sure bible-thumping wives that attend church regularly will rent this movie over and over again to pay into the belief that Kate Hudson needs to lose her size 2 figure and worldly lifestyle and be sentenced to a lifetime of coming last to merit the care of children.The sentiments in this movie are so ugly and misogynisitic I can't believe anybody would pay to see kids whimper their aunt out of a decent life with their whinyness and watch a woman lose everything she's worked for because somebody's elses mommyhood shut down.This movie also has Joan Cusack as a smug woman so obsessed with her own selfsaintedness she can't offer real assistance and support to her sister, even when she obviously needs it, and would rather watch her fail than support her..
The story of Helen, a young independent career woman who sees his life changed after becoming the guardian of the three children of her late sister.The story is explored in a superficial dull way, and the director seems not to have clear in his mind where to inject drama or humor.
The story needed of a little bit more of dramatic depth, which would have been there if the actors had done their job properly.Kate Hudson plays the same character once more, the same sort of chick, makes the same sort of faces, in this movie or in any other, that's why the viewer doesn't believe her in her role.
The only good acting in the movie is by the always believable Joan Cussak, playing Helen's oldest sister, and the talented child actor Abigail Breslin, playing the youngest of the siblings.The movie has some good elements and a good story line, but it is all wasted by a poor direction and some bad performances..
And, while she may be able to get you into the best nightclubs and order her meal in French, entrusting her with your kids when you die may not be the best idea.'Raising Helen' is the story of a three children, devastated by the loss of their parents and sent to live with their glamorous aunt, Helen (Kate Hudson) instead of their much better qualified Aunt Jenny (Joan Cusack).
The film focuses on the children's attempts at coping with the loss of their parents and Helen's struggle to be Super Mom.Director Garry Marshall has had a few box office hits over the years ('Pretty Woman', 'Beaches', 'Runaway Bride') and has attempted to weave the 'old stand-by' romantic-comedy ingredients together in an effort to land another hit.
While 'Raising Helen' has a good ensemble of actors, the story (like Helen) falls just short of the mark.Hudson is charming as Helen, but the character is exasperatingly flakey for the majority of the film and then, in the blink of an eye, summons her inner 'real mom' just in time to save the day.
It's a fantasy, of course, bearing no resemblance to real life, which is always fun sometimes, and there's the wonderful Helen Mirren, the great Joan Cusack, and the always-attractive John Corbett to add interest to the proceedings.
Garry Marshall, of course, isn't big on subtlety, but to his credit the film never gets heavy-handed or stupid, and there is a subtle part - at the beginning of the film, Helen (Kate's character) smokes like a chimney, but after she's saddled with her sister's children, we see her wearing a nicotine patch, but nothing is ever mentioned about it.
Of course at first she is having second thoughts but she agrees with the letter and she brings the 3 kids(Abrigal Breslin,her real life bro Spenser & Hayden Panterrie from Heroes)to her hometown.As the 3 kids move to a new home and school Helen(aka Kate Hudson) meets a reverend (played by John Corbett) and the two become smitten.As Helen finds it hard to mind the kids she realizes that minding someone else's kids can be hard work.This film is a pure rip off of No reservations which was boring/the new flick with Katherine Heigl Life as we know it.
Personally Hollywood are getting bored with their jobs and they like to repeat the same thing again and again.If you like movies where someone dies and the person who lost their sister or brother has to mind their kids then check it out on DVD..
Well the lesson you can learn from this movie, Being a parent is not easy, when it start mostly peoples will think its just an easy job, but in the middle you gotta feel how hard is it,separate your job from your children,feed them, have fun with them, you probably gotta get crazy with all of it, maybe gotta lost your job too and it all depends on you how you gonna mix up and manage all your career,family and other stuff together or maybe you gonna need to choose between one of its.
Kate Hudson playing nice acting in this movie, i just love it her face when she back home and found out Audrey have a party with her school friends, haha.
I will tell you a nice movie, "Raising Helen".Helen Harris, played by Kate Hudson, works at a model agency in New York as a competent agent and enjoys her single life.
RAISING HELEN ****1/2 Within the screenplay's glossy layer of typical comedy with sexy Kate Hudson as a 20-something single with the perfect job and a night-life of partying, there is a strong, firm telling of family ties and the effects that ensue after the loss of a loved one.
Hudson makes a good turn as the title character who is responsible for taking care of her sister's three children when she very suddenly and tragically dies.
I had some trouble getting involved at the beginning, but pretty soon the story had some meat and took hold, especially at the point that Helen (Kate Hudson), a young jet-setter who works in a high fashion agency, inherits her sister's three children.
Good performance is also provided by Joan Cusack as Helen's older, pregnant sister who is puzzled as to why the kids were not bequeathed to her.
It starts with Helen Harris(well acted by Kate Hudson) who lives a very care free lifestyle, she also works for a fashion agency.
I think Kate Hudson and all the performers in this movie are great actors -- especially Helen Mirren who can do no wrong in my book.
Caution: I saw a little girl in the ladies room at the end, who looked like she'd been crying, and it occurred to me that as a 6 year old I would have been devastated by a movie where the childrens' parents die at the beginning..
As usual Kate Hudson was great nice mix with John Corbett (love him too) Nice family movie.
Spencer Breslin, however, is not as good an actor as his sister, and his character - and his acting - annoyed me.However, altogether I think it was a great movie for all the family..
I love Kate Hudson-she is my favorite movie actress, but I was disappointed because I was expecting her to make me laugh like before.
It is simply, a movie-like movie- a character doing his or her thing, plus a shameless promotion of Kate Hudson.So when you watch Raising Helen, don't expect phenomenal acting, dialouge, or story-lines.
Raising Helen is the story of a young, career driven, successful woman Helen Harris (Kate Hudson) who has two older sisters.
Either way though, Kate is easily out-acted by co-star Joan Cusack, a tall, gangly woman who's wasp like face can be made to look a lot better or a lot worse; Joan makes you feel more for Jenny than Helen, which is not the right effect I think.
Kate Hudson stars as Helen Harris, a young, single, Manhattan woman whose sister and brother-in-law die in a car accident.
Perhaps some side-plots should had been dropped.Amazingly the movie really has a big and superb cast, with actors such as Kate Hudson, Joan Cusack, Helen Mirren, Hector Elizondo and Felicity Huffman in it.
Classic situations like the love relationship between the two leads are left a little bit aside so the movie is not only a romantic comedy, but the story of a family.
Raising Helen was a fun movie, particularly Kate Hudson in the lead and a cameo by the always great Felicity Huffman.
Kate Hudson looked very attractive in the movie and I thought her acting was pretty good.
He continues in the same vein here with Raising Helen, a comedy about a woman who is asked to care for her sister's children after her sister and her husband are killed in a car accident.Kate Hudson plays the title role of Helen Harris, an executive assistant at a Modelling Agency, whose life is turned upside down by the news that her sister and her brother-in-law were killed in an accident.
Raising Helen (2004): Dir: Garry Marshall / Cast: Kate Hudson, Joan Cusack, John Corbett, Helen Mirren, Felicity Huffman: Counting the nose hairs of the person sitting next to me at the screening of this boring piece of crap is more entertaining than watching it.
It stars Kate Hudson as Helen Harris who works at a modelling agency until given the news that her sister and husband died in a car accident.
So watch it, If your a Kate Hudson fan or a fan of family comedy's/tear jerker's/heartfelt then you will fall in love with this film and all of the characters!.
Raising Helen is a movie that is relatively believable; but still has the fantasy twist of everything working out for the good of the main characters.
This movie is much like Evelyn; anyone that has enjoyed Raising Helen should watch Evelyn.