A Little Help
2010 Directed by Michael J. Weithorn
Synopsis
It's a movie for everyone whose life has been thrown off-course, out of whack, or simply not turned out the way they planned it. In other words, it's a movie for everyone, period. Set in suburban Long Island in the summer of 2002, with the psychic wounds of 9/11 still fresh, A Little Help is a story that takes a comic, searching and profoundly empathetic look at a few pivotal months in the life of dental hygienist Laura Pehlke (Jenna Fischer)-an ordinary woman whose life suddenly flies off the rails-and her heroic efforts to re-establish a sense of security and normalcy for herself and her son.
Recent reviews
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Pam Beesly! Saying the F-word!
I hated just about everything this asinine bloated sitcom wrongfest had to offer. Written and directed by the creator of the Kevin James show "King of Queens" and do I really need to go on?
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Laura Pehlke isn't happy. She isn't miserable, either. Just not nearly as content as she'd prefer. Her life has too much of the stuff that makes her edgy, and not enough of what makes her smile. Most of us have, at one time or another, probably felt the same.
Set just after the 9/11 disaster, "A Little Help" (written and directed by Michael J Weithorn) is a small, but winning film, about how people handle the small, and not-so-small, difficulties of life.
Laura's life hasn't become what she expected. An early 30-something, NY-area dental hygienist, she is both likable, and flawed, as played by the adorable Jenna Fischer (from TV's American version of The Office). At work, she's essentially heckled…
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This review reportedly contains spoilers. I can handle the truth.
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makes me sleep
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I enjoyed A Little Help for what it is and respect it for not trying hard to be what it is not. It doesn’t make attempts to be a laugh fest nor does it try hard to delve deep into the psyches of its characters, taking itself too serious. The situations and people in them are sometimes funny (albeit in a sad/awkward manner) and sometimes not. Kind of like life can be at times.
joshuahoover.com/2012/02/10/way-late-review-a-little-help/ -
Oh...here we go again, with just a film that induces apathy within my being.The comedy ements are strongest in the beginning with the whole dysfunctional family element and a couple of lines here and there. Then stuff starts to get real, I gues....characters hit rock bottom then the end? yeah, why couldn't the focus be more on the grief denial? too much of a passive voice instead of an active one.
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This is a great little "quirky dysfunctional family dra-medy" Jenna Fischer is the crutch of the movie as her character has all the problems, and you like her, you feel for her and route for her from start to finish. All the characters are great, and they all cause some sort of problem in Jenna's life. All the elements of the story draw you in, the characters, the writing, the dialogue, the antics, its all just really good, and heart felt.
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The first hour and 35 minutes of this were quite cute, Jenna Fischer playing the dysfunctional widower quite nicely. Then, for whatever reason, the last ten minutes all seemed to turn to shit. I liked Jakob Dylan's songs though.
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cool performance by Fischer