MartinHafer "Helicopter Mom" is a film that boggled my mind as I watched. I couldn't help thinking that perhaps Nia Vardalos was tired of being a celebrity and simply did this film to destroy her career...her performance and character were both THAT bad. Now she was wonderful in "My Big Fat Greek Wedding" as well as in "My Big Fat Greek Wedding II"...but here she is simply someone I hated with every fiber of my being...and I am actually shocked I completed the movie. I assume it's because when she wasn't on the screen, the picture was actually pretty good...but that wasn't often enough.Vardalos plays Maggie, a single mother whose every thought and action is about her teenage son, Lloyd (Jason Dolley). She constantly embarrasses him and behaves in a way like no mother on the planet...and is extremely cruel and self-centered throughout this. For instance, she HOPES that he's gay because that way no other woman will come between them...and then publicly outs the boy at school and signs him up to compete for a gay scholarship. There is, by the way, no evidence that he's gay...none. She just hopes he is for her own deranged and selfish reasons. She doesn't stop at embarrassing him for this...it's pretty much constant. To say this is a one-dimensional and broadly written character is a HUGE understatement!!When the camera is NOT on her, the film is rather nice. Dolley is very good as her meek son and his scenes with his girlfriend are very sweet. I'd actually like to see more of this actor...just never, never, never in the same film as Vardalos.Overall, a difficult movie to like and one I hope never to see again.

kidsnpuppies Nearly everything about this movie looks like it was made by 2nd graders. Starting with the obvious, the script is incoherent, unoriginal, unfunny and vacuous. The person who directed this clearly was grasping at straws, and to allow the lead character to act so way over-the-top showed very little skill of the craft. The acting by everyone (except the father) was a joke. It looked like bad dinner theater acting.The sound was not good and uneven. Some parts of the film were inaudible and the dialogue lost. How do you let that happen (unless, of course you're a 2nd grader)?I'm assuming this film was shot for 40-50k by film students in an attempt to raise money to try and make something bigger. However, I highly doubt this effort by those involved will lead to anything other than than an unemployment check or a job offer at Dunkin Donuts serving up flavors of the day.THIS is what you call AMATEUR HOUR.

studiochiq 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.

Holly McCarthy I really loved this sweet little film. I've been a big fan of Nia Vardalos ever since "My Big Fat Greek Wedding," and I found her performance in this movie equally as charming and fun. Vardalos is so different from most modern movie stars. She really represents a honest and unvarnished American woman, and I always find her refreshing to watch. She's a talented comedian- able to be both funny and earnest at the same time. The relationship between mother and son in this film was heartwarming and real; you really see a mother struggling to do everything possible to help her child succeed- even if she sometimes makes mistakes. That's something that every mother can identify with! And on top of all of this I'm really glad that we can have a family comedy in 2015 that champions gay acceptance...with a twist ;) Bravo Nia! I'm a big fan!