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Movies / On DVD / Raising Helen
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.

Runtime: 1 hr 54 mins

Genre: Comedies

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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Reviews for Raising Helen

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1 - 20 (sorted by source; UK critics are listed first)
Text View | 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 >> >|
Arrange By:Fresh | Rotten | Comments | Name | Source | Date
 
 

This isn't funny enough or dramatic enough.

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

The latest urban fairy tale from Pretty Woman's Marshall sees the director continue his descent into underwritten schmaltz at the expense of genuine wit and warmth.

Full Review Source: Empire Magazine | comment Comment
08/28/04
Liz Beardsworth
Liz Beardsworth
Empire Magazine
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Shiny, undemanding and deeply fake.

Full Review Source: Shadows on the Wall | comment Comment
05/11/04
Rich Cline
Rich Cline
Shadows on the Wall
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Time Out | comment Comment
02/09/06
Time Out
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: ViewLondon | comment Comment
08/28/04
Matthew Turner
Matthew Turner
ViewLondon

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

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

...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

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
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

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

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
 
 
1 - 20 (sorted by source; UK critics are listed first)
Text View | 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 >> >|
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Latest News for Raising Helen

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