This is truly a charming film that, at its root, deals with the topic of life choices. Kate Hudson (Helen) must bear the burden of raising her recently deceased sister's children. The odds are stacked against her, and everyone around her is telling her she will fail. In truth, Helen has to make the choice of whether she wants to live one lifestyle or another.
This movie shows us that life can throw some difficult things our way. Many times, we are reluctant to accept what we are given, and reject our circumstances as "unfair". Helen does this - and gradually changes her mind over time.
This is not a "happily-ever-after" movie. This is a movie about playing the hand we're dealt. Kate Hudson does an excellent job of showing us the inner struggle she fights as she tries to deal with her new circumstances using her old ways of living. She gradually sees that she must change herself at the core - and then she can rise to the challenge that life has thrown at her.
John Corbett (Pastor Dan) starts out very convincingly - I am acquainted with many pastors who are also "normal people", and John portrays this very well. We could use more men of God like the character that John portrays. He ends up playing the assistant and boyfriend, instead of the commanding pastor. This helps Helen's character, but I felt it somewhat belittled the pastor role a bit. Not that there's anything wrong with that, it just seemed a bit out of touch for me. No matter, it strengthened Helen's character, which was the main character anyway.
If you have teenagers, you will want to watch this with them. There is an unspoken gap between teens and parents that is well addressed in this movie.
Joan Cusack (Jenny) does an excellent job, as usual. Although Jenny's true inner turmoil doesn't come out until they talk near the end, you can see it from the very beginning. Having come from a similar situation, I can say that Joan plays this role PERFECTLY. No wonder she's one of my favorite actresses.
What we end up seeing is a real family with real problems, and a real resolution. OK, true, the circumstances are extreme, but hey, it's a movie! We are entertained by the circumstances that are a bit off the beaten path, but still employ good, human feelings and actions that we can identify with.
I felt the movie was a bit long - at one point, I looked down at my watch and wondered how many hours I'd been watching this. It is possible that some scenes could have been edited for better flow. However, I never felt the need to pause it and go for a snack, so it held my attention quite well.
I give this movie an 8 for entertainment - and that's quite a high ranking coming from a person who usually watches action, adventure, fantasy, and comedy movies. For Values, I give it a 9. If you question this, watch the last 20 minutes again and ask yourself what has happened with the characters that you would not want to model in your children. For acting, an 8, for pacing, a 6, giving this movie an 8 overall.
While I would generally categorize this movie of the "chick flick" genre, I must say that it touched my heart and had me in tears in a few spots. Nice work, Garry Marshall. I'm not an easy touch.
