Helen help us.
As I was reading the TC's review
for "Raising Helen," I had to chuckle as I read
it. Kate Hudson has generally done just the
opposite for me as she does for him. With the
exception of her performance in "Almost Famous,"
I've found her irritating, fluffy and and
falsely perky. I've never been attracted to her,
and that fact alone kept me from watching this
film for quite some time.
Unexpectedly, I found myself somewhat
entertained in this film...though, I will say it
has MUCH more to do with the performance of Joan
Cusack than Kate Hudson.
"Raising Helen" is about a young woman living in
the fast lane at a modeling agency, who suddenly
finds herself the guardian of three children
when her sister and brother-in-law are killed in
a car accident. Of course, this is a surprise to
all as Hudson's character has exhibited little
beyond the "surface" fun Aunt routine while her
surviving sister, played by Cusack, is a "super
mom."
Hudson seems to have a fondness for this light
comedic, semi-romantic films. It would do her
well to move on, however, this is one of her
more appealing performances despite a noted lack
of chemistry with her romantic interest, played
by John Corbett. Corbett is always hit and miss,
and here he mostly misses the mark with a fairly
boring, uninteresting performance.
Hudson has a general likeability that bodes well
for this character as she tries to do the right
thing, take care of the children and grow up
herself. Yet, I on several occasions found
myself hitting a "cringe" factor with the scenes
that sort of resembled the impact I felt by
watching "Surviving Christmas." Some of the
scenes were just downright uncomfortable.
The entire film is pretty much saved by Cusack,
who seems to add so much to even the most
stereotypical role. I've long been a Cusack fan
and this is a fairly typical, yet constantly
interesting performance for her. She pretty much
steals all her scenes.
Nothing about this film is really above
average...the script, the direction, the
performances all pretty much just do the
job...yet, my fondness for Cusack and her
investment in her character elevate this film
ever so slightly for me to the "slightly above
average" mark.
I will also add this is yet another unsatisfying
performance from kid performer Spencer Breslin,
who was so remarkably annoying in "The Cat in
the Hat."
This film seems very targeted at a young
audience, and I could see where young girls
might enjoy this performance. Hudson was
nominated for a "Teen Choice" Award for her
performance here, another indicator of the
filmmaker's targeting a younger audience.
So, I found myself unexpectedly entertained on a
very basic level by this film. A decent
performance by Hudson and a wonderful
performance by Cusack raise "Helen" to a C+ from
this critic.
©
Written by Richard
Propes
TC Candler's Comment
n/a
Jacob
Hall's Comment
n/a
