I've conceded the fact that Kate Hudson is and was a one-trick pony; she hasn't had a watchable movie at all, not since "Almost Famous". I do believe she's capable of starring in another good film, but every movie she's ever starred in subsequent her starring role in "Almost Famous" has been awful or unwatchable. Is she doomed to live a career of mediocrity churning out these unbelievably insipid romantic comedies with no creativity? How can someone with so much charisma just waste all their talents with these movies? This is a two hour sitcom, that's all it is. It's written like a sitcom, its characters are out of a sitcom, they're as vapid as a sitcom, and everything in the story happens conveniently and wraps up with a neat little bow just like a sitcom. There are even two (count 'em), TWO musical montages.

Story elements and characters appear at just the right time of the movie, and nothing even remotely realistic happens. This is possibly the worst film Hudson's done and is void of originality, creativity, or real human characters. A woman who has no responsibility has it forced upon her being forced to take care of kids, thus taking a liking to them and solving their problems. Been done a thousand times, such recently in the incredibly awful drama "Summerland" which, by the way, ripped this off. It's a moot point either way, because both are ginormous pieces of crap. It's really hard to describe my dismay for this film, because some times a movie is so bad I can't muster up the words for it, but it is easy to describe when I got a clue that this was a piece of crap, during the party scene where the family begins dancing to Devo which not only signifies their crappy taste, but also shows one of the worst imitations of "The Big Chill" I've ever seen.

What is the appeal of showing people dancing to music? Is dancing like morons supposed to symbolize their bond? What did they establish in that really utterly obnoxious scene that they couldn't have accomplished in a scene where they're eating dinner, or talking? It's an awful attempt to create something remotely memorable in an altogether forgettable movie. The set up is very poor considering the movie's length and Felicity Huffman, an actress who is ten times more talented than Hudson has a very thankless role as the sister who experiences fate that sets up the movie, and she's included in something that's equally put upon by the audience.

The development of the first half of the movie which sets the stages for the remainder of the plot is not only emotionally manipulative but dropped on to the audience. And to make things even more hilarious things just seem to drop in to Helen's lap. She finds a school easily, she finds another apartment easily, and she begins to fall in love with the local pastor very easily, but this lacks one thing that may have made it a decent watch. Not only does it not approach life situations realistically or believably, but it approaches raising little kids unrealistically. Raising kids is rough, very rough and Helen has the daunting task of raising a teenage girl, a little girl, and an adolescent boy whom are really in the film for convenience yet again. The three of which suddenly become very difficult to handle. And did I mention these three get over their mom and dad's deaths really quickly?

I mean it's just fast the way they seem to cope and not go through the stages of a loved one's death, and, how amazing, they each hatch problems just in time for the movie. The youngest Sarah doesn’t know how to tie her shoes and now Helen must come to the rescue. They don't focus on her accepting her parent's deaths, going to a new school, or adjusting, but she has a problem tying her sneakers, the boy of the family Henry has a problem playing in the basket ball team (my god!), and Audrey suddenly starts hanging out with--oh no--black and Hispanic kids! Now I'm never one to throw out "racism" easily, but man, are there racial stereotypes in this movie! All ethnic people in this are portrayed as thugs, hoodlums, and juveniles, and the neighbor, a Hindi woman, often plays the maid. How utterly ridiculous. And none of them have any chemistry, and their dialogue is often stilted and awkward, and as always the kids end up becoming spoiled brats just for the plot convenience. What’s the point of this development?

But alas, if the film doesn't get more offensive, just wait. Any feminists who love the whole woman empowerment message will find the conflicting messages during this to be really insulting. The film puts out a wrong message to women. Her incredible life with modeling, clubbing and just enjoying her career is skillfully depicted as empty and vapid that is until she has kids and THEN she's fulfilled in life, and she even says it. Now that's some good message. Bear kids and then you'll truly be happy; maybe the writers never realized that some people can be happy being single and focusing on their career. But the offensive message is only part of the problem in a whole of a true piece of crap.

If it looks like a sitcom, talks like a sitcom, and walks like a sitcom, it surely is a sitcom. Kate Hudson had a shining star once but she just continues to repeatedly churn out these really crappy, sappy, cookie cutter romantic comedies. It's a really long piece of crap, but then it's Kate Hudson so that's not completely shocking.

• Walking stick figure and brainless blonde Paris Hilton has a cameo. A very pointless one at that.

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