Kate Hudson is in danger of becoming typecast as the heroine of cute and unobjectionable comedies such as those that made her mother, Goldie Hawn, famous.
In RAISING HELEN, Hudson plays Helen Harris, a young single employed as the personal assistant to Dominique (Helen Mirren), the stuffy head of a top modeling agency. Both of Helen's older sisters, Jenny (Joan Cusack) and Lindsay (Felicity Huffman), are married with children. Indeed, Jenny is pregnant yet again. When Lindsay and her husband are killed in a road accident, Lindsay's will assigns guardianship of her three children to Helen, much to Jenny's hurt and disbelief. If you're looking to see yet another film where an immature adult is given the opportunity to grow up via the experience of raising difficult children, then RAISING HELEN will not disappoint.Kate is cute. The kids are cute. The plot is cute. The film is too cute. Only the effervescence of Hudson makes it worth watching. Mirren's talent is wasted. John Corbett as Pastor Dan, the headmaster of the private Lutheran school in which Harris enrolls her new charges, is totally colorless and ineffectual as Helen's potential love interest. (He's a squeaky-clean minister, for crissakes!) There are several watchable supporting roles. First, Cusack as the second eldest sister whose been nurturing all her life - initially as surrogate mother to Helen when their own Mom died prematurely, and now with her own expanding brood. Jenny deeply resents the fact that she never had the chance to be footloose and fancy-free like her young sibling. And then there's Helen's feisty next-door neighbor, Nilma (Sakina Jaffrey), a veteran mother in her own right, who's literally willing to take up a baseball bat to put some backbone in Helen's spine when it comes to disciplinary problems. Lastly, there's Hector Elizondo as Mickey Massey, the owner of a "pre-owned vehicle" dealership with (gasp!) a conscience. As ALMOST FAMOUS (2000) demonstrated, Hudson has the talent to be a fine dramatic actress. RAISING HELEN is harmless enough, especially if you only pay the matinee price. But, c'mon Kate, you can do better! |
