"Lorenzo" Not Included. | Raising Helen (Widescreen Edition)

A Bit Sacharine | Raising Helen (Widescreen Edition) | Kate Hudson, John Corbett

DVDs:


	• Raising Helen (Widescreen Edition) Kate Hudson, John Corbett Touchstone / Disney, 2004 average customer review:based on 92 reviews view larger image
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Raising Helen

Helen finds herself in a situation she is not familiar with. After her sister's death, she is given custody of the three children. She has always been the party girl, but now she in the position of being a mom, and has no idea how to do it. This is a good film that touches on many issues. How to deal with loss, and how to raise children being at the forefront. Kate Hudson was well chosen to play Helen. You really get the feeling that she was completely out of her element being an authority figure with the kids.

"Lorenzo" Not Included.

The oscar nominated animated short film "Lorenzo", which was screened with Raising Helen in theatres and was originally announced as a part of this DVD release, is not included in the DVD. If you are interested in this DVD simply for Lorenzo please be advised. I hope this was helpful to some and at least informative to others.

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A Bit Sacharine

Everything is a little too cute and sweet and wholesome. My teeth ache from watching: three orphans, their cute aunt try to raise them, while dating an impossibly wholesome minister. oi-vey!
Still, i DID watch the whole thing, so that's saying something.

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Surprisingly good

I was laid up with the flu and not in the mood for serious thinking so I selected this obviously lightweight romantic comedy mostly for the cast. I love Kate Hudson and John Corbett. When I realized it was directed by Garry Marshall I got a little depressed as I find his movies so formulaic and superficial that I feared for the worst.

However the story was really not so bad and the cast is quite wonderful. Hudson, like her famous mother, lights up every frame she's in and that alone was medicine for my flu. John Corbett who I fell in love with in Northern Exposure was a bit of a disappointment. Maybe it was his hair--it looked thin and dyed. Or maybe he felt hamstrung by trying to play a "sexy man of God." I winced at that line. However he holds his own and Hudson has enough charm and energy for two. Joan Cusack is very good as the uptight older sister, whom we're supposed to dislike. In the end each sister gets a bit of the other's traits and everyone seems to live happilly ever after.

The supporting cast is excellent, too. Helen Mirren, previewing Meryl Streep as the head of a modelling agency, is never bad. The fellow who plays the used car salesman is wonderful. The children are all good, which is not always the case in these Hollywood films. Abigail Breslin is so natural that you just want to hug her. Her brother is quite good, too. I especially enjoyed the Indian neighbor who chased the teenagers out of Hudson's apartment with a baseball bat, scolding them for having baggy pants!

Like several others, I wish that Kate Hudson would play some more serious roles that expand her talent. Perhaps being so adorable is a trap as she is so good at it that she keeps getting these roles.

I found the "extras" featuring out takes hosted by Garry Marshal interesting in the sense that it really shows his heart. He's a nice man, who wants people to be happy. He even wanted to leave in a scene featuring a daycare center at the workplace because he believes in the concept. It gave me a new respect for him. Also he's an old pro. He knows how to put a film together for popular consumption and he did it.

If you're looking for Bergman, as another reviewer here was, you'll have plenty of reason to complain. But if you take the film for what it is intended to be--a light entertainment with some good themes, then you'll probably enjoy it.

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After her sister and brother-in-law die in a car accident, a young woman becomes the guardian of their three children.
Genre: Feature Film-Comedy
Rating: PG13
Release Date: 1-NOV-2005
Media Type: DVD