Raising Helen

Reviewed By John Gibbon

     Sometimes, the hardest job for women to endure is motherhood. Just simply ask Helen Harris. For Helen, title character in the new film Raising Helen, life is good on top of the world… a fabulous job as an exec at a NYC modeling agency, good friends, a great apartment, she’s single, and swoons on the no-strings attached boyfriend girls dream about. Helen even has a great tight-knit relationship w/ her 2 older, married sisters; punctuated by the reverence the kids give her (calling her "cool Aunt Helen" and sharing with her a love of dancing to Devo's "Whip It").  So, what could go wrong?

     One phone call shakes Helen’s (Kate Hudson, in her best role since Almost Famous) life when she learns that her oldest sister Lindsay (Felicity Huffman) and her husband Paul have died in a car accident. After the funeral, to the surprise of all, Helen becomes the guardian of Lindsay and Paul’s three children: outrageous 15-year-old Audrey (Hayden Panettiere), witty 10-year-old Henry (Spencer Breslin), and cute 5-year-old Sarah (Abigail Breslin). Helen elects to take the children from stuffy uptight Connecticut to a ramshackle apartment in fast-paced Queens much to the dislike of older sister, Jenny (Joan Cusack).

     “Fashion and family don’t mix,” advises sophisticated head of the model agency (Helen Mirren) to young Helen. This is what worries Helen the most as she soon discovers that there is no balance between the high demand of work and even higher demand of family. Jenny doubts Helen can succeed, making her feelings known that she ought to be Supermom, even if it means bossing around her own fetus. Of course, certain problems arise much to Helen’s dismay. Audrey is a teen aching to be an adult, Henry isn’t so sure about basketball anymore, and Sarah is obsessed with tying her shoes. This is the making of a complicated life, and quite simply, Helen is in need of a miracle.

     She receives help from Pastor Dan (John Corbett), the principal of a Lutheran school in which she enrolls her three new additions. Pastor Dan guides her down the right road, at her side when the pet turtle croaks and when Audrey falls for the school rebel. Romance soon begins to bloom along the way, crafting a delightful humorous chemistry between Helen and Dan.

     But, even if things are seemingly good for Helen, everything can’t come up all roses. A Mother’s Day feast turns into sisterly bedlam because Jenny still can’t understand why Helen was picked for the children and not her. Furthermore, Helen is truly tested when Audrey goes to the motel instead of the prom. Regardless of these roadblocks, with a little help and a deeper understanding, Helen embraces the gift of motherhood, and by the movie’s end the audience is moved by Helen’s aching revelations.

     Raising Helen is a touching film about the joys and pains of motherhood, and how to overcome the difficulties, scoring high on examining human values and family virtues. The ads for this film lead you to believe this is a comedy but it is more than that. Director Garry Marshall (Runaway Bride, The Princess Diaries) has pieced together a wonderful Hallmark card of a movie with just the right amount of heart and comic wit.