Film Reviews

Raising Helen

• Rating:
• Director: Garry Marshall.
• Starring: Kate Hudson, John Corbett, Joan Cusack, Hayden Panettiere, Spencer Breslin, Abigail Breslin.
• Details: US / 119 mins / (12PG).

Any film that openly boasts of the involvement of 'the director of Pretty Woman and Runaway Bride' should be approached with extreme caution and Raising Helen certainly doesn't require any fresh thinking in this regard. Fast becoming a discount version of her mother, Kate Hudson plays our titular hero. She's your archetypical New York party girl - a modelling agent who is just as beautiful and slim as the girls she represents. As is mandatory in these types of films, a party girl meets tragedy when her sister and her husband die in a car crash and Helen is entrusted with the care of her three kids. Of course, things get off to a bad start, but it isn't long before Helen starts to learn something about being a responsible adult and those kids start to get over their grief. And wouldn't you know it, being a responsible mom has its advantages as Helen soon encounters the hunky pastor Dan (John Corbett). Pushy and moralising, Raising Helen is the sort of film that gives chick flicks a bad name. With a shallow premise that doesn't bear up to any sort of scrutiny, the film never exploits its comedic potential. Rolling out cheap and predictable set pieces, Raising Helen makes the fatal mistake of never saying anything remotely interesting and not being particularly funny as it does just that. Even the usually reliable Joan Cusack looks pretty bored here.

Review by Garreth Murphy