The single and successful executive of the fashion world, Helen Harris (Kate Hudson),becomes the guardian of her two nieces and one nephew after the death of her sister and her brother-in-law. She moves from Manhattan to Queens, and faces difficulties trying to raise the children.

"Raising Helen" is another absurd and corny Hollywoodian tale, or fairytale, or s**t tale. There are some few funny moments, but the story has an absolute lack of logic and coherence. The changing of the character of Helen, from a fashionable independent single woman of Manhattan developing her successful career in the fashion world into a suburban mother of stepson and stepdaughters is one of the most ridiculous and corny I have ever seen. I like Joan Cusack, Hector Elizondo, Kate Hudson and John Corbett, I tried to like this movie, but the screenplay is a shallow unbelievable crap. My vote is four.

Title (Brazil): "Um Presente Para Helen" ("A Gift For Helen")

When you start a film on the premise that three children have lost their parents tragically, you'd better follow through. However, we meet Kate Hudson, who is at the top of her game as an aspiring cog in the fashion machine. She finds that in a letter, her sister and her brother in law have named her caretaker of the children. What follows is an overly cutesy series of events which allow the Kate Hudson character to develop into a mother. While there are some real tear jerking scenes (the one in the closet after the funeral is very moving),but so much of it is slapstick and utterly unbelievable. Is this a comedy or a drama. The ridiculous relationship between the surviving sisters is unfathomable. The kid's lives are caricatures and don't work. The elder daughter turns bad for a while and ends up in trouble. Everything is a formula. John Corbett's role as a Lutheran minister could have been so good. Again, it's just hard to believe him. There's all this potential in this movie. Have the people act like real people; that's all. They never do and it turns it into a sappy mess. There's the obligatory can't find a babysitter scene where the kids ruin the fashion show. Jeez, how many times have you seen this on television. Anyway, had someone had the patience to take a decent premise and work it, they might have had more than a mediocre show.

Helen Harris (Kate Hudson) is devoted to the single life and works for Dominique (Helen Mirren) at her modeling agency. Her sister Lindsay Davis (Felicity Huffman) lives the opposite life with three kids in New Jersey. When Lindsay and her husband die in a car accident, the cool aunt is forced to be the guardian to Audrey (Hayden Panettiere),Henry (Spencer Breslin) and Sarah (Abigail Breslin). The other sister Jenny Portman (Joan Cusack) considers herself the responsible one and is shocked that she's left out as the guardian. Helen is overwhelmed. Pastor Dan Parker (John Corbett) is the kids' new school principal.

It's not that particularly hilarious. It's trying more towards touching. Killing off the parents early on will do that to a movie. The family is lovable. The kids are adorable. Kate Hudson is lovely. It's a family drama with enough light moments. The tough poignant moments are cliché but still work. It's a lovely cinematic family to root for. I rather not have the romance with the priest. It's problematic as a rom-com but the characters are still charming enough. Doesn't she have enough to deal with?