Colibel Terrible acting, screenplay and direction.

Ketrivie It isn't all that great, actually. Really cheesy and very predicable of how certain scenes are gonna turn play out. However, I guess that's the charm of it all, because I would consider this one of my guilty pleasures.

SanEat A film with more than the usual spoiler issues. Talking about it in any detail feels akin to handing you a gift-wrapped present and saying, "I hope you like it -- It's a thriller about a diabolical secret experiment."

Robert Joyner The plot isn't so bad, but the pace of storytelling is too slow which makes people bored. Certain moments are so obvious and unnecessary for the main plot. I would've fast-forwarded those moments if it was an online streaming. The ending looks like implying a sequel, not sure if this movie will get one

Python Hyena 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. Cliché filled boring crap about growing up. 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. Or maybe they just realized what a bad career move appearing in this film would be and just plainly skipped town. The three children are left to Helen much to her surprise and that of her older sister who already has children. We can expect difficulties balanced with work and blah, blah, blah who cares. Directed by Garry Marshall who previously made Pretty Woman. His films often examine relationships within work but here his screenplay is by the numbers. Hudson does as expected and it isn't any more exciting than the dozens of others before her who played the same role. Joan Cusack as her older sister is another wasted appearance. John Corbett as Pastor Dan is underwritten. Helen Mirren is wasted as her employer. Felicity Huffman plays Helen's sister and together they are about as interesting as a toothpaste commercial. The responsibility theme is surrenders to stupidity. The film will be lucky if it can raise eye lids let alone Helen. Score: 2 / 10

mohdjad70 Raising Helen is a beautiful film which takes care of a very sensitive topic in our society of raising someone's children whom you have known very well. It is one of those films. It tells the story of a free spirited woman (Helen) who works hard and enjoys her life to the full. But due to the calamitous death of her sister and brother-in-law she gets chosen to be the legal guardian of their children instead of her other sister who is unlike her. The story goes on by how Helen copes with the situation to try to become a successful working single mom.Kate Hudson as Helen gives an outstanding performance. I never did like her that much, always thought she was overrated nonetheless this acting has made me a fan of her and I am looking forward to her next appearance in Wish I Was Here (2014).Coming to the child stars, Abigail Breslin as Sarah does the best among the others. It is good to see her getting transformed into a teen star from a child one. Hayden Panettiere as Audrey accomplished her task well in this movie but is not great and Spencer Breslin as Henry is a notch down from both of them as he couldn't get some expressions right in my point of view.Joan Cusack as Jenny the other sister does well as a supporting actor which is certainly expected from her. John Corbett as Pastor accomplishes at providing the humorous moments needed in the film and Helen Mirren has a minor role, however a good one.Largely the film felt a little rushed to me although it already stands at 119 minutes, I think other characters should have been developed more and added emotional touch could also be given to it. Nevertheless, it's a decent popcorn flick that can be viewed with your family on a weekend.Overall it's a 7/10 from my side.

moviefanxoxo This Film is the best film Ever! If you haven't seen it yet I strongly suggest you watch it, as soon as possible. Kate Hudson Is the best actress, She never fails to impress me on any of her movies and this is just Wow. I love how no matter what character she is playing she can just hook you to the screen and make you just fall in love with her. Her acting in this film is just amazing, impressive and funny. It had me in tears, then laughing hysterically, to oahing and aahing when she fell in love it was just unbelievable. 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!

ilovefootball40 In the movie Raising Helen, Helen Harris lived a glamorous, uptown girl life with a career in the modeling industry. She spent her working days in the fashion world and her evenings out partying at clubs. Helen's life took an unexpected turn very quickly when she received a devastating phone call. The call was shocking news that shocked their family, changing it forever. Helen's family had found out that one of Helen's sisters Lindsay, played by Felicity Huffman, had died in a fatal car accident along with her husband. Now their three children Audrey, Henry and Sarah were left without parents and the decision of their children's fate lied in Lindsay and her husband's will. Jenny, Helen's other sister, played by Joan Cusack, and Helen sat down with the lawyers and were each handed a letter written by their sister. Then the lawyer read the will out loud revealing that Helen would have custody over the kids. Now most people would have suspected that the children's new guardian would be Jenny, who was much more motherly than Helen, having children of her own already. Putting is bluntly, Helen, played by Kate Hudson, was not your typical mother figure. She had yet to settle down, especially with her career on a rise."If you're reading this, you know that I'm gone. And I asked Helen to be the guardian for the kids." This was the statement written by Lindsay in Jenny's note stating her decision to leave her children with Helen. This decision came as a shock to all of the characters and I'm sure most of the audience.Helen knew that this would change her life forever, but she had no idea how difficult it would really be. She would have to ultimately give up her exciting, city life and turn it into a life that was suitable for three children. This was a big adjustment for Helen, going from not having any kids at all, to becoming responsible of three all at once. With her sister's decision, Helen became accountable for little miss fifteen-year-old rebel Audrey, played by Hayden Panettiere, pudgy ten-year-old Henry, played by Spencer Breslin, and adorable five-year-old Sarah, played by Abigail Breslin. The four began their life together and soon realized that Helen's busy, city lifestyle and its surroundings just weren't going to be a good fit for all of them.Helen eventually becomes overwhelmed and discouraged with her new life of motherhood. She is uncertain if this is the life she is supposed to lead and wonders if she will ever become a good role model for the kids. Helen finally realizes that she needs to make a life changing decision. Does she want to leave the new life that she that has been handed in order to go back to her old life, or does she want to put her old city girl life behind her forever in order to take care of her nieces and nephew? Raising Helen is a perfect title for this movie because Helen is trying to raise three kids and essentially realizes that she is learning how to raise herself also. This movie is classified as a comedy, drama and romance film into one, and I think that it is exactly that. It is a movie that will put you in shock, then make you cry, and then suddenly make you laugh. It is an emotional and dramatical movie because it is filled with a tragedy that would shatter any family and you actually feel their struggle. I believe that the comical part is from watching Helen grow up and trying to raise kids with a lot of the laughter coming from the supporting roles. Most of the performances in this movie were wonderful, especially Joan Cusack, who made a perfect supermom/superaunt. I enjoyed Kate Hudson performance; however she wasn't the lovable, sweet girl that we have seen in most of her other movies. This made me not enjoy the movie as much, since I normally love Kate Hudson movies. I had enjoyed her much more in some of her other films such as How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days or You, Me, and Dupree.