Purely Joyful Movie!

I was totally surprised at how great this film.You could feel your paranoia rise as the film went on and as you gradually learned the details of the real situation.

I think this is a new genre that they're all sort of working their way through it and haven't got all the kinks worked out yet but it's a genre that works for me.

It's a good bad... and worth a popcorn matinée. While it's easy to lament what could have been...

Helicopter MomThe most annoying aspect of Helicopter Mom is that a decent story idea was squandered on a dull, slightly offensive movie.The wasted idea was showing a 17 year old guy trying to figure out his sexuality in a realistic and open way. In coming-of-age films the questioning kid is usually portrayed as secretive or troubled. It's rare to see a character be matter of fact and not bothered about his same sex attraction.But other than that unusual bit, Helicopter Mom is largely forgettable. It's not unwatchable, it's just difficult to recall afterwards. The main story is about a mother incredibly wrapped up in her son's life. Her focus on her son is played as humorous but there's nothing funny about it, the woman just comes across as obnoxious. The production is plain, very made-for-TV. The acting is adequate. The most memorable part of Helicopter Mom is a minor plot point featuring two young gay guys who are portrayed in such a cliché manner their presence is actually offensive.  The cartoon gay stereotypes seem weirdly out of place in a film that has the rare portrayal of a teen figuring out his sexuality in a realistic manner. But just one small scene with a bitchy, screaming queen gay character makes the one good aspect of Helicopter Mom, the realistic main teen character, seem like a complete accident.

Helicopter Mom is a forced comedy that mines uneasy humor from stale stereotypes. Directed by Salomé Breziner from a dated script by Duke Tran, the film's idea of pro-LGBT dialogue takes the form of one-liners like "My son's not gay — he doesn't like pesto!" It gets worse. Breziner's disjointed film is rife with story lines that go nowhere and characters that briefly appear and disappear without explanation. Nia Vardalos' character is more clown than character, earning no sympathy from the audience. First-time screenwriter Duke Tran's script is plagued with dialogue that plays for cheap, crass laughs.Bad ideas are sometimes saved by good scripts, but this is, unfortunately, not one of those times. It drones on and on with failed jokes. Its queer subject matter is supposed to work as a satire, but fails miserably and ends up serving up stereotypes and expects the audience to get the context of the satire which is lazy and lame. With an onslaught of misunderstanding of what being queer means and what the gay lifestyle is, the film flounders and just falls into completely stupid territory.It is no wonder why nobody is renting this failure.

This is just a really fun movie. I thought Nia Vardalos was great. She turns it what must have been a challenging and personal performance. I especially thought she was perfectly awkward and hilarious when she was trying to talk to her son about masturbation.I also really liked Lisa Loeb as the lead's supportive teacher. The song she wrote and sang for this movie is awesome. I'm really glad to see she's getting work.Good movie to sit down on the couch on a Monday night and laugh for an hour and a half without having to think too hard. Easy and light. Check it out!

I don't know why people are rating this movie so badly.The only reason that people rate movies with 1 or 2 stars is because it made them feel something, WHICH IS THE WHOLE POINT! Just because you didn't like it doesn't make it a bad movie! We have all experienced the things this movie talks about: acceptance, love, family, relationships, personal identity. The lead character has to struggle with discovering who he is while juggling college applications, high school drama and worst of all, a neurotic and obsessive mom.It's definitely worth checking out.I really liked it.