Movie Review Raising Helen

Raising Helen (2004) 

Directed by Garry Marshall

Written by Jack Amiel, Michael Begler

Starring Kate Hudson, John Corbett, Joan Cusack, Hayden Panattiere, Spencer Breslin, Helen Mirren

Release Date May 28th, 2004

Published May 30th, 2004 

Ever since I was a kid, there was one thing that my mother and I had in common and that was a love for movies. Though our tastes are very different, occasionally my mom would surprise me. She loves Days of Heaven and Sleepless In Seattle, she loves La Dolce Vita and Grease, all of which are in her video collection. Her one abiding love however is cheeseball romantic comedies. Anything of the Hanks-Ryan canon, Julia Roberts is a goddess, but only romantic Julia, preferably teamed with Richard Gere.

I bring this up because on Mother's Day my mother joined me for one of those cheeseball romantic comedies she so dearly loves, Garry Marshall's new film Raising Helen. While I sat there in my cynical, cold-hearted shell completely unmoved by Marshall's greeting card sentimentality, my mother laughed and cried as if on cue from the film to do so. It's an example that any film critic needs to hear that certain movies play to certain audiences. That doesn't make a movie good but it should give you something to think about before launching into another cynical diatribe about the death of film. I might have walked away from this film ready to write such a review had my mom not been there.

In typical romantic comedy fashion, Helen Harris (Kate Hudson) has a fabulous job, fabulous friends and endless amounts of disposable income for her fabulous clothes and apartment. This all changes when Helen's older sister Lindsey and her husband are killed in a car crash leaving behind three children. Naturally, Helen assumes that her other sister Jenny (Joan Cusack), already a wife and mother, will take in Lindsey's kids but Lindsey has a surprise for them both. In what many would consider bad judgment, Lindsey has left the kids, Audrey, 14 (Hayden Panettiere), Henry, 10 (Spencer Breslin) and Sarah, 5 (Abigail Breslin) to Helen.

Helen's life of fashion shows and nightclubs is thrown out of whack. Soon her trendy apartment is gone in favor of a not-so-posh Brooklyn apartment. Her job working at a fashion agency for the criminally underused Helen Mirren in a throwaway role as Helen's boss, is gone because her kids destroy a fashion show. On the bright side, Helen has found the kids a good school. A Lutheran high school where the principal is the very handsome Pastor Dan (John Corbett).

From my perspective this obvious material moves slowly towards its obvious conclusions with a little humor and plenty of contrived melodrama. Sitcom level humor permeates every corner of the film that isn't taken up with “very special episode” style theatrics. However, for every cynical hard-hearted comment from me, my mom laughed and cried. Mom was under the film’s spell from moment one and remained there until the very end.

The one part of the film that we both could agree upon were the actors who at times when not being manipulated by the plot, actually are very good. Kate Hudson deserves a better vehicle for her talents than the tired romances she seems trapped in at the moment. The radiance and life force that made Almost Famous so memorable still shines through, slightly dimmed because the material is not nearly as engaging as she is.

The supporting cast is also very good. Joan Cusack may be the most reliable character actresses in all of Hollywood. John Corbett backs up his handsome face with great wit and self-deprecating manner. The film actually gets a little better in the scenes when it's only Hudson and Corbett together, these two have terrific chemistry. The child actors are…well, they are child actors and in movies like these, they are placeholders for the plot.

Ask me how I feel about Raising Helen and I'll tell you that Garry Marshall's affinity for greeting card level emotions is as grating as fingernails on a chalkboard. Raising Helen is another assembly line Hollywood film that had a poster before it had a script. However, my Mom would tell you that Raising Helen is a sweet, funny, family movie that will make you laugh and cry and walk out with a smile on your face and a little choked up. Mom would give Raising Helen 10 out of 10. I wish I could be as kind.

Movie Review Ramona & Beezus

Ramona & Beezus (2010) 

Directed by Elizabeth Allen 

Written by Laurie Craig, Nick Pustay 

Starring Joey King, Selena Gomez, John Corbett, Bridget Moynihan, Ginnifer Goodwin, Josh Duhamel, Sandra Oh 

Release Date July 23rd, 2010 

Published July 22nd, 2010 

The movie is called “Ramona and Beezus” but it really could be called just Ramona. Beezus, played by Disney Channel star Selena Gomez, is integral to the plot, but the story is unquestionably about Ramona played by 9-year-old Joey King as whirling dervish of sweet funny chaos. That's not to speak ill of Selena Gomez, she's a charming actress, but up against young Joey King's incredible performance, it's hard for anyone to stand out. 

Ramona Quimby is a precocious kid who doesn't really go looking for trouble but certainly finds it. With her huge imagination, Ramona can turn even the most straightforward activity, like the hanging rings on the playground, into a massive adventure that ends with her nearly missing a class because she has somehow hung herself upside down. There are some who will watch Ramona daydreaming, playing and finding trouble and diagnose her with attention deficit disorder but the movie, directed by Elizabeth Allen, has no time for diagnosing its star. The movie has far more serious and true elements to examine.

In a plot twist that was not part of Beverly Cleary's sunny fun vision of life on Klickitat St. in Portland Oregon, Ramona's dad (John Corbett) loses his job just as the family is building an addition on their already sprawling home. With Mom (Bridget Moynihan) heading back to work, the stress in the house begins to affect Ramona who finds new trouble in trying to help her parents keep their house.

This dramatic plot turn however, does not get overwhelmingly dramatic and for the most part Ramona and Beezus is breezy, warmhearted and sweet. 9-year-old Joey King is wonderful as Ramona, perfectly capturing her unintentional mischievousness and the soulful look in her eyes when she inevitably makes a giant mess of things.

John Corbett is terrific as the father who stays positive, patient and caring even as he seems a little dazed being over 40 and thrust back into the job hunt. Bridget Moynihan has far less screen time but her presence is felt early on. Rounding out the cast is a sweet romantic pairing between Ramona's Aunt Bea played by Ginnifer Goodwin and Ramona's neighbor Hobart played by Josh Duhamel.

Credit Goodwin and Duhamel for putting aside star ego to take minor supporting roles - both could be taking lead roles; Duhamel is in fact hard at work on another Transformers sequel but saw quality in Ramona and Beezus and could not pass it up. “Ramona and Beezus” is wonderful family entertainment. The drama of mom and dad's marriage trouble related to his unemployment is merely the underscore to a story about a big hearted little girl who finds adventure and trouble in equal measure just by being her slightly off-kilter self.

There is a reason that decades after they first appeared on Klickitat Street, courtesy of the pen of Beverly Cleary, why “Ramona and Beezus” are still around. These are quality stories and characters that resonate through time with their radiant, fun loving spirits and big, big hearts. Joey King is wonderfully well cast and though her radiance overshadows Selena Gomez as Beezus, it speaks to Selena Gomez's generosity as an actress that she is such wonderful support to King's lead performance. 

Ramona and Beezus is a delight. 

Movie Review My Big Fat Greek Wedding

My Big Fat Greek Wedding (2002) 

Directed by Joel Zwick 

Written by Nia Vardolas 

Starring Nia Vardalos Michael Constantine, John Corbett, Lanie Kazan 

Release Date April 19th, 2002 

Published April 18th, 2002 

My heritage is Irish, which by stereotype means I love potatoes and lots of alcohol. I do like potatoes but I don't drink. Not everyone lives into a stereotype. Nia Vardalos, the star of My Big Fat Greek Wedding, also doesn't live up to the stereotype of a Greek woman. She is supposed to marry a nice Greek boy, have lots of children and cook until she dies. Nia's character, Toula Portokalos, aspires to be more than the stereotype.

Wedding is the story of Toula Portokalos, a frumpy depressed waitress at her family's restaurant called  Dancing Zorba's. Her father Gus (Michael Constantine) is a very loving man who believes Windex can cure almost any ailment. Gus wants Toula to marry a Greek boy and have Greek babies. Toula would rather go to college and learn about computers and get out from under her family for a little while. Toula's mother Maria (Lanie Kazan) understands her daughter’s ambition and coerces Gus into letting her go.

After a makeover from her frump phase into the attractive girl she had always hidden, Toula goes to college and decides to become a travel agent. After getting a job in her Aunt's travel agency Toula meets Ian (John Corbett). They have immediate chemistry and before long they are ready to head down the aisle. If only it were that simple. First Ian must get past Toula's father, a difficult task because Ian isn't Greek. Then Toula must meet Ian's parents who are WASPs, White Anglo Saxon Protestants. In other words, the Whitest people on the planet.

The problem is I'm not sure what this film was aiming for. Were the scenes with Toula's Aunt played by Andrea Martin meant to be over the top or was she supposed to be taken seriously? The way Martin plays the role it's difficult to tell.

Some of the characters also live into the various stereotypes, while our leads Vardoulias and Corbett play everything straight. Maybe that was the attempt; juxtapose Ian and Toula against the more stereotypical characters in order to show what they are attempting to overcome. If that was the attempt I'm stretching to get it. The film's tone defies that explanation a couple times throughout the film.

The film is still very amusing at times, like when Ian's parents are introduced to Toula's family and extended family and they meet Toula's six cousins and nephews all named Nick and her cousin Nikki. Also, Toula's grandmother, who was brought over from the old country and is always trying to go back.

The laughs are there and so is the heart. Despite the stereotypes each character is shown to have a great heart and is written with love. The film is drawn from Vardoulas' own life so she does genuinely love each of these characters, so her broad interpretation of each character is done with love. My Big Fat Greek Wedding is a light, fun little film with some solid laughs. I recommend you check it out, especially if you are Greek.

Movie Review: The Messengers

The Messengers (2007)

Directed by The Pang Brothers 

Written by Mark Wheaton

Starring Kristen Stewart, Dylan McDermott, Penelope Ann Miller, John Corbett 

Release Date February 2nd, 2007

Published February 1st, 2007

The two worst things to happen to modern horror are the rise of the PG-13 rating as a box office force and the rising influence of atmospheric Japanese horror movies. The PG-13 rips the guts out of the genre by not allowing guts to be ripped out on screen anymore. The rating robs the genre of its kink and cheap thrills and leaves nothing but the shrill screams of the soundtrack.

The influence of Japanese horror wouldn't be such a bad thing if American filmmakers could mimic it well. Unfortunately, as demonstrated by two The Ring's and two Grudge movies and the pitiful Dark Water with Jennifer Connelly, clearly we can't. Both of these bad trends come together in the latest haunted house horror flick The Messengers.

The last thing young Jess (Kristen Stewart) wants is to move to the middle of nowhere, North Dakota. Unfortunately for Jess, her dad Roy (Dylan McDermott) and mom Denise (Penelope Ann Miller), are forcing her to do just that. Dad has decided he is going to become a sunflower farmer and has used the family's savings to buy a dilapidated farmhouse and some empty acres.

Naturally, the house was once the site of a grizzly murder. A mother, her daughter, and young son, were killed in this house and their spirits haven't left. Only Jess's baby brother Ben can see the ghosts, though eventually, Jess gets up close and personal when they try and kill her. Joining the family on the farm is a mysterious wandering farmhand named Burwell (John Corbett) who may or may not have some history of his own tied up in the old house.

Commercials for The Messengers trade on the idea that small children, toddlers, can see things adults can't. It's an attention grabbing conceit. However, it has nothing to do with the movie that ends up on the screen. Yes, there is a toddler in the film and yes he does see the ghosts. However, the fact that the kid can see the ghosts has little, to no impact on the plot, it's more of a marketing tool intended to make you think of better movies in which kids see ghosts, The Sixth Sense. 

Director's Danny and Oxide Pang made the awkward but entertaining Japanese horror flick The Eye and now make their American debut with The Messengers. The new movie shares the debut picture's awkward style and low rent effects. What The Messengers lacks; and what The Eye had in abundance, is an original story. Working with first time writer Mark Wheaton, and from an idea from the man behind Jason X; Todd Farmer, the Pang Brothers deliver an uninspired bit of by the numbers direction.

There is some unintentional comedy in The Messengers, though not nearly enough for real camp fun. In one scene Dylan McDermott gets into it with some crows and ends up having to throw a haymaker at one, a dignity destroying bit of physical business. In another, John Corbett is engulfed by the evil black birds, reminiscent of a scene from The Simpsons in which Homer is attacked by crows. Oh, did I mention the fact that these bizarre bird attacks are entirely random and never actually linked to the plot? That's kind of important.

The special effects of The Messengers are about as bad as the directors fetish for black birds. The ghosts of The Messengers are The Grudge knockoffs with cracking bones and crawling on all fours on floors, walls and ceilings. Each has that very obvious digital glow about them that let's the audience know the filmmakers didn't have the money for the top notch digital effects.

The Messengers is a mindless rehash of a dozen other bad horror movies from The Ring and The Grudge to the long forgotten Sharon Stone-Dennis Quaid teaming Cold Creek Manor whose creators might consider looking into copyright infringement, the stories are so similar. The estate of the late great Alfred Hitchcock might consider litigation as well. considering The Messengers' oddball, non-plot related, bird obsession.

However, relating anything Hitchcock-ian to this thrill-less thriller is a little too insulting to the great master. Forget I ever brought it up, just as you would forget The Messengers moments after seeing it.