Raising Helen

Last night I had dinner with Mom and Sis and then we went to see the movie Raising Helen.

Note to self: Do not go to see a movie where a sister dies and her children are left without any parents.

10 minutes into the movie I was going "What was I thinking?". I am very close to my own sister and adore her two children. Thinking of my sister dying was bad enough, but thinking of her children growing up without her was the worst. We cried all through the movie!

That being said, I thought it was a good movie, even though it apparently didn't get the greatest reviews. It was sweet and romantic, if heart breaking at times. Kate Hudson plays Helen, a young single career girl out having a good time and living a glamorous and exciting life. Near the beginning of the movie (this isn't a spoiler, because it's the whole premise of the movie) Lindsey, the sister she is closest to, dies along with her husband in a car accident. In their will, they left their three children - a teenage girl, a boy in the middle, and a little girl in kindergarten - to Helen to raise, instead of to their oldest sister Jenny (played by Joan Cusack). Jenny has 3 children of her own and one on the way and is the ultimate "mom". We watch Helen struggle with trying to raise the children and keep her sanity and her life together. John Corbett plays Reverend Dan, the handsome young paster of the kids' new school.

All in all a cute romantic comedy. Except for the really sad parts.