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Review: 'Raising Helen' cliche comedy
« on: Jun 2nd, 2004, 8:00pm » |
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Review: 'Raising Helen' cliche comedy
Friday, May 28, 2004 Posted: 3:32 PM EDT (1932 GMT)
NEW YORK (AP) -- "Raising Helen" is a tour of the Comedy Cliche Museum.
We have a spunky, beautiful young career woman (Kate Hudson) who's darn good at what she does (in this case, a rising manager at a modeling agency). But something's missing ...
Remember when Reese Witherspoon played that gal in "Sweet Home Alabama"? Or Jennifer Lopez in "The Wedding Planner"?
She has a sister and brother-in-law who conveniently exit the picture (they die) -- leaving the unprepared newcomer three troubled young children to raise.
Sounds like a job for John Candy's "Uncle Buck"!
There's the oversexed 15-year-old girl (Hayden Panettiere, who played "Ally McBeal's" daughter), the slothful 11-year-old son (Spencer Breslin, the troublemaking brother from "The Cat in the Hat") and the sad-eyed 7-year-old cutie-pie (Abigail Breslin, the little girl who tossed water on the aliens in "Signs.")
We know that by the end, Helen will have not only successfully become a "good mom" she will also have learned a little something about responsibility. You know, like Jack Black in "School of Rock."
The rest of the movie is like a deja vu seizure.
The whole family will dance around the house to a pop song, grinning and singing into mock microphones. Hey, it happened in "Stepmom." But would three young kids in the year 2004 really be so psyched about Devo's "Whip It"?
Helen will encounter a shrew, who criticizes her amateurish parenting -- but is really just jealous and resentful of her free-spirited ways. Joan Cusack plays that character, Helen's other sister, reprising the indignant responsible-pal routine that has padded her filmography.
She will meet a handsome man who is very responsible. He helps her become a good mother, but she helps him loosen up and enjoy life. That would be John Corbett as Pastor Dan, doing his bemused regular-guy-along-for-the-ride thing from "My Big Fat Greek Wedding" and "Sex in the City."
Director Garry Marshall, whose credits include "Pretty Woman" and "The Princess Diaries," wrings a few one-off laughs from this pathetic screenplay by Jack Amiel and Michael Begler. Unfortunately, Marshall can't produce even a whiff of originality or actual cleverness.
"Raising Helen" is a Touchstone Pictures release. One and a half stars of four.
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