If you haven’t been to church in a while, you would probably be surprised if I told you my pastor was a dashing, young clergyman who played hockey, had a sense of humor, didn’t get freaked out by people who rejected his beliefs, and regarded himself as an unabashedly “sexy man of God.” All that, and he was spiritual, too. Seriously, now: Could such a person exist?
(2004) Film Review
This page was created on May 25, 2004
This page was last updated on
May 23, 2005
ABOVE: (Left) New mom Kate Hudson stars as Helen Harris, who is entrusted with the care of her two nieces and nephew. (Center Left) John Corbett plays Pastor Dan, a new love interest in Helen's life - and the principal of the kids' new school. (Center Right) Joan Cusack stars as Jenny, Helen's more responsible older sister. (Right) Helen Mirren plays Dominique,
Helen's high-fashion boss. BELOW: (Left) Hayden Panettiere is 15-year-old Audrey. (Center Left) Spencer Breslin is 10-year-old Henry. (Center Right) Abigail Breslin is 5-year-old Sarah. (Right) Hector Elizondo is Helen's new boss, used car dealer Mickey Massey.
Directed by Garry Marshall Story by Patrick J. Clifton & Bethany Rigazio Screenplay by Jack Amiel & Michael Begler
Cast (in credits order)
Kate Hudson .... Helen Harris
John Corbett .... Pastor Dan Parker
Joan Cusack .... Jenny Portman
Hayden Panettiere .... Audrey Davis
Spencer Breslin .... Henry Davis
Abigail Breslin .... Sarah Davis
Helen Mirren .... Dominique
Sakina Jaffrey .... Nilma Prasad
Kevin Kilner .... Ed Portman
Felicity Huffman .... Lindsay Davis
Sean O'Bryan .... Paul Davis
Amber Valletta .... Martina
Ethan Browne .... Devon
Michael Esparza .... BZ
Katie Carr .... Caitlin
Shakara Ledard .... Tinka
Jane Morris .... Landlord
Joseph Mazzello .... Prom Date Peter
Catherine Tayrien .... Jasmine Portman
Evan Sabara .... Oliver Portman
Paris Hilton .... Amber
Sandra Taylor .... Lacey
Wesley Horton .... Gary Hagelnick
Bernie Hiller .... Jean Paul
Shanda Renee .... Intern Mary
Brigitta Lauren .... Simone
Shannon Wilcox .... Photographer
Produced by
Ashok Amritraj .... producer
David Hoberman .... producer
Mario Iscovich .... executive producer
Todd Lieberman .... co-producer
David Scharf .... associate producer
Ellen H. Schwartz .... executive producer
Karen Stirgwolt .... co-producer
Original Music by John Debney Cinematography by Charles Minsky and Michael Stone Film Editing by Bruce Green and Tara Timpone
Raising Helen
Various Artists - Soundtrack - 2004
1. Extraordinary - Liz Phair
2. If You Walk Away - Fefe Dobson
3. Whip It
4. Who's Life Am in in
5. At the Zoo
6. Feels Like Rain - John Hiatt
7. Thinking Over - Dana Glover
8. Fashion - David Bowie
9. Sweetest Pain - Duff, Haylie
10. Destiny
11. You Belong to This World
12. Love Like This - Mark McGrath
13. Amazing - Josh Kelley
14. Stand Back - Joan Osborne
POSTER
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Helen Harris (Hudson) is living the life she always dreamed of. Her career at a top Manhattan modeling agency is on the rise; she spends her days at fashion shows and her nights at the city’s hottest clubs. But her carefree lifestyle comes to a screeching
halt when one phone call changes everything. Helen soon finds herself responsible for her sister’s children – 15-year-old Audrey (Panettiere), 10-year-old Henry (Breslin), and 5-year-old Sarah (Breslin). No one doubts that Helen is the coolest aunt in New York, but what does this glamour girl know about raising kids? The fun begins as Helen goes through the transformation from super hip to super mom, but she quickly finds that dancing at 3 a.m. doesn’t mix with getting
kids to school on time – advice that Helen’s older sister, Jenny (Cusack), is only too quick to dish out. Along the way, Helen finds support in the most unusual place – with Dan Parker (Corbett), the handsome young pastor and principal of the kids’ new school – and realizes the choice she has to make is between the life she’s always loved and the new loves of her life.
—About this Film
HOLLYWOOD IS CHANGING AN INTERVIEW WITH DIRECTOR GARY MARSHALL
BY DAVID BRUCE
Host of HollywoodJesus.com
Why did director Gary Marshall do a romantic film about a Christian minister and orphaned children?
GARY MARSHALL served as executive director for Happy Days, Laverne & Shirley, The Odd Couple and Mork and Mindy. He has directed such films as The Princess Diaries, Runaway Bride, The Other Sister, Frankie & Johnny, Beaches, Overboard, Nothing in Common, The Flamingo Kid, Exit to Eden, and Dear God.
It was my privilege to talk with Director Garry Marshall about changing attitudes in Hollywood concerning religion, families and children. Here is what he said:
Why did Raising Helen interest you?
"Actually this is what drew me to the picture. Usually you just don’t do pictures about ministers in a love story. But that's what made it interesting to me."
About about your Christian faith?
"I’m Italian, but I didn’t grow up Catholic, I was Lutheran and I was baptized a Presbyterian. I like to think that I covered most of my bases."
What motivated you to do Raising Helen?
"With all the negative stuff that was going on in the news about the (Catholic) church, I thought somewhere there needed to be a positive statement. I mean, religion has a good place. And it has good people."
Was it difficult to do a film about faith?
"Putting together a film like this isn’t easy. Initially, John Corbett didn’t want to do it. He didn’t want to be a nice guy again; he had too many movies in a row where he was a nice fellow. But, slowly this project intrigued him."
How did the Disney Studios feel about backing a religious film?
"It also surprised me that Disney would take a shot it (a romantic film about a Lutheran pastor). We didn’t get any flack about doing it –except for one day when they thought that we should not show the minister touching the kids – you know, because of all the news at the time, they said. But, I told them that I didn’t think people thought about it that way. It was a minor thing. That was the only flack we got."
Have things changed in Hollywood?
"You know, in the old days of television they would not let you do a show about a religious person, unless they flew – like the flying nun. They always felt that nothing bad could happen to a minister (therefore, no interesting stories could be developed). So you could not do stories about ministers or religious people because they wouldn’t believe them. In the sixties and the seventies you just didn’t do religious stories. But now that has changed. We can do
films like this now."
Did you use actual Churches?
"The Presbyterian Church that we used in the film was where my oldest daughter was baptized.
"By the way, the choir that we used in the film is an actual kid’s choir in a Los Angeles church."
Families are important to you
"Yes, I did this film as a salute to parents and how hard it is to raise kids these days. I have three children. I have two sisters who have children. I watched them go through all this. It’s a hard job. Hollywood knows this too. That’s why Warner Bros. and Disney, they all have child care centers for working parents."
It is a new era in Hollywood indeed.
Helen help us.
Review
by KEVIN MILLERBLOG
Kevin Miller is a freelance writer, editor,
and educator who has written, co-written, and edited over 30 books,
both fiction and non-fiction. A film reviewer for the past two years,
Kevin is very excited to join hollywoodjesus.com. He currently resides
in Abbotsford, British Columbia, Canada with his wife, Heidi, and
their children Huw and Gretchen (and one more on the way). They attend
Fresh Wind Christian Fellowship, a non-denominational church that
focuses on reaching the disabled, children, and people who've been
"burnt by the church." To learn more about Kevin, visit
www.kevinwrites.com
A SEXY MAN OF GOD!
If
you haven’t been to church in a while, you would probably
be surprised if I told you my pastor was a dashing, young clergyman
who played hockey, had a sense of humor, didn’t get freaked
out by people who rejected his beliefs, and regarded himself as
an unabashedly “sexy man of God.” All that, and he was
spiritual, too. Seriously, now: Could such a person exist?
If you are a regular churchgoer, you
would probably be more surprised if I told you I had just seen a
Hollywood film that featured just such a clergyman as a central
character. What’s more, they didn’t turn him into a
serial killer, a child abuser, an exorcist, a moral crusader, a
hair-sprayed TV evangelist or a Ned Flanders-style nerd. This film
actually took his faith seriously, and it didn’t jazz it up
or dumb it down. His Christian commitment was merely one part of
his otherwise ordinary life. Seriously, now: Could such a film exist?
It does, and it’s called Raising
Helen. And whether you call yourself a Christian
or not, I urge you to see it. Both funny and heartwarming (if a
tad conventional), this film does a superb job of depicting current
misunderstandings between the Church and the culture at large. It
also demonstrates how such misunderstandings might be overcome;
mainly through people on both sides of the spiritual divide realizing
what we all have in common—our humanity—and using that
as the basis for dialogue.
There is much to comment on in this
regard, but I will restrict myself to two incidents.
One is a scene where Helen tries to pass herself off as a Lutheran
so Pastor Dan will allow her sister’s children to attend the
Lutheran school he oversees as principal. Her approach is typical
of those whose only impression of the Church is that of a harsh,
judgmental institution bent on excluding and condemning wayward
souls rather than welcoming them. Like a limbo dancer, Helen bends
as far back as she can go, assuming the bar will only allow a few
“chosen” individuals to wriggle beneath it. However,
after listening to her obvious lies, Pastor Dan doesn’t disqualify
her. In fact, he responds with the last thing most non-Christians
would expect from someone in his position: humor. With a straight
face, he tells Helen everything sounds fine. All the children have
to do is fill out the application forms and take a blood test.
“Blood test?” Helen asks, smiling.
“Yes,” Pastor Dan says. “To make sure they’re
Lutherans.”
Helen’s smile melts. She starts to scramble, claiming all
three children are hemophiliacs; that they faint at the sight of
blood...
Finally, Pastor Dan relents and tells her he’s joking.
Wait a minute: Joking? The guy with the collar? Come on, now…
Refreshingly, it turns out there is no bar. There’s no limbo
contest, either. You don’t have to be anyone special to attend
Pastor Dan’s school or his church. As he puts it, “There’s
probably only fifty Lutherans in Queens anyway.”
That scene isn’t the only time
Pastor Dan responds to Helen’s antics with humor.
Despite her near total ignorance of the faith (she thinks “vespers”
is a brand of scooter), he simply accepts her and her family for
who they are. He even seems to enjoy them. And he never preaches
at them. Well, almost never. The one time he does preach at Helen,
he elicits exactly the same response the Church does every time
it wags its finger at society: anger, resentment, and a rupture
in their relationship.
Have you ever felt like Helen, like
you had to “show your credentials” before you’d
be accepted by the Church, like the Church was only there to condemn
you rather than support you? If so, you are not
the only one. And it’s a shame. As an institution founded
on grace (which can be defined as “unmerited favor or kindness”),
we Christians sometimes do a lousy job of exhibiting this core value.
Too often, we have turned the Church into an exclusive club of “do
gooders” instead of a place where all who are weary and burdened
may find rest (Matthew 11:28). I want to apologize on behalf of
Christians everywhere for this attitude, and I urge you to give
us another chance.
Similarly, if you are a Christian,
have you ever struggled to accept a culture or an individual that
does not share your beliefs? If so, I urge you to
reconsider the example of Christ. He made such a habit of hanging
out with those whom the Church of his day despised that it was downright
scandalous. As Jesus said of himself: “The Son of Man came
eating and drinking, and you say, ‘Here is a glutton and a
drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and “sinners”’”
(Luke 7:34). Has anyone made a similar accusation about you lately?
Another aspect of Raising Helen that
addresses the uncomfortable relationship between Church and culture
is the issue of Pastor Dan’s sexuality. Coming
from the glamorous world of Manhattan fashion, Helen has a difficult
time seeing Pastor Dan as anything other than a kindly, spiritual
authority. Never mind the fact that he’s a “normal”
guy in every other respect—handsome, funny, athletic, and
supremely nice. But sexy? Not a chance. Like many people today,
Helen doesn’t want to even consider the fact that a religious
man could also have some “below the collar” stirrings.
Even Helen’s fifteen-year-old niece squirms at the thought.
“That’s weird,” she says. I think Helen’s
niece is speaking for many people here. Recent sexual abuse scandals
involving spiritual authorities have caused a lot of discomfort
when it comes to thinking about clergymen and sex. But is it still
possible for someone to be both a man of God and a sexual being—in
a healthy way, that is? Pastor Dan certainly thinks so. As he tells
Helen, “I’m a sexy man of God, and I know it.”
However, I think he may be a rare breed.
Never mind clergymen, I think most
non-Christians have a difficult time reconciling sex with Christianity
period. I think that’s partly because non-Christians
often don’t receive a very positive line from the Church regarding
sexuality. It’s usually a “don’t” message
of some kind, as in “don’t look,” “don’t
touch,” “don’t imagine”—aw, heck,
just “Don’t do it!” (Except under carefully controlled
conditions.) Sounds more like the “fear of sex” than
the “joy of sex” to me.
But if God created everything, he
must have created sex, too, right? So what did he
intend for us to do with it? To enjoy it, surely. But how? And with
whom? Non-Christians aren’t the only ones who have a difficult
time answering such questions—or reconciling spirituality
and sex, for that matter. I’m a Christian who has been in
a committed marital relationship for the past seven years, and I
sure haven’t got it worked out yet. I don’t think my
wife has either. And neither have any of my friends. Some haven’t
even worked out their sexual orientation yet. And I don’t
think we’re much different than millions of other Christians
in North America. Perhaps that’s why the Church has been so
lousy at communicating with the rest of the world on this topic.
We don’t really know what to tell them. That’s not to
say Christianity doesn’t have a lot to contribute to this
conversation. But to get at what that is, we need to lay down our
insecurities and prejudices. We need to stop trying to defend our
position and start figuring out why so few people are listening
to what we have to say.
Raising Helen won’t change the
world—or the Church. But it might just change a few minds.
Despite what the critics are saying, I urge you
to give both Raising Helen and the Church a chance.
In each case, I think you will be both delighted and surprised.
I know I was.
Review by GREG WRIGHT
Pastor and Tolkien Scholar. hjpastorgreg@hotmail.com
Greg is a writer and ordained minister of the dramatic arts. He is a contributing editor for Hollywood Jesus, and is author of Tolkien in Perspective: Sifting the Gold from the Glitter.
I agree very strongly with Raising Helen’s idea that folks who live in R-rated worlds (like me, or even David Lynch) can learn to value a G-rated existence. And this is not an absurd idea. Just ask Lynch.
A funny thing happened on the way to Helen... As the screening began, the usual MPAA ratings screen appeared -- only this time, it was blue. Now, that got my attention, because most of the movies I see have red or green ratings screens. For those of you who pay attention to these things, you probably know where I’m headed with this. That blue screen really made me sit up
in my seat. I had no idea that the theatre was about to screen a live-action G-rated film!
Of course, it wasn’t. That blue MPAA ratings screen was a mistake -- but I didn’t know that at the time. So, as the titles sequence of Raising Helen rolled, I was somewhat perplexed at the montage of heels, legs, stockings and gyrating dance-club torsos. This was clearly not my grandmother’s G-rated film. And that’s okay. After all, David
Lynch is making G-rated films these days. What the heck.
Now, as the movie progressed, my confusion mounted. Back in the days when I won my very own “New Traditionalists” plastic Devo hair at a local concert, I never dreamed that “Whip It” would some day show
up in a G-rated Disney film. I mean, I’m not the only one who remembers that video, right? Pretty tame by today’s standards, of course, but we all know what whipped cream and bondage-lite is about. This wasn’t just goofy. It was bordering on subversive.
And much of the movie’s plot revolves around the teenage daughter of Kate Hudson’s character, and the prematurely adult-ish predicaments in which such kids find themselves. Not the stuff of Bambi or Nemo. Characters use four-letter words, and even Helen’s
hockey-playing Pastor Dan is on the make, declaring himself a sexy man of God -- “And I know it,” he says pointedly. What world had I stepped into?
After seeing Helen learn the value of child-rearing and monogamous devotion to a man of faith, the artist in me sort of took over. As I left the theatre, I remarked to my own Pastor Mike that it’s hard to make a movie about finding the value in a G-rated life if you don’t
start the movie at PG-13, or higher. Still and all, I reflected, I’m not sure that the merits of Helen’s lesson warrants a G-rating, even if we include brownie points for a nice, genial, ecumenical depiction of the pastorate. Is it only a neutered church that can earn a seat at the table of popular culture?
I was naturally much-relieved to find out that this movie is indeed rated PG-13. Because I agree very strongly with Raising Helen’s idea that folks who live in R-rated worlds (like me, or even David Lynch) can learn to value a G-rated existence. And this is not an absurd idea. Just ask Lynch. (Never mind the fact that Richard Farnsworth, who played Lynch’s G-rated Alvin Straight, later took his
own life.)
And by the way -- the movie’s depiction of clergy may be watered-down and whimsical, but it’s not so very far-fetched. Like Kate Hudson’s Helen, my own wife was herself mistakenly convinced that she had erred by dating an ordained single pastor (me); and I’ve personally worked with hockey-playing pastors. So if you’ve been puzzled in the past, as I
have, by movies like The Truman Show (which doesn’t even feature a church), you might just take an obtuse pleasure in a movie where the title character declares, “Oh, look! A juggling pastor!”
—Forum
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Why did director Gary Marshall do a romantic film about a Christian minister and orphaned children?
