Helicopter Mom (2014) User Reviews (34)

Chainsaw Mom

[ferguson-6 · 4/10 · 21 May 2015]

Greetings again from the darkness. Just when it seems everything we say or do is offensive to someone and most every topic is considered politically incorrect, a movie shows up that seems to say it's OK to be offensive if you are trying to make a worthy point. It's kind of like someone defending their actions by saying "I'm not a racist – I have an African-American friend."

Helicopter parenting is defined as an overly involved parent who thinks they are best serving their kid by staying involved in every detail of life – from homework to activities to love life. As sad as this phenomenon is, this movie from director Salome Breziner and writer Duke Tran is so exaggerated, a more appropriate title would be Chainsaw Mom. Nia Vardalos (My Big Fat Greek Wedding) stars as the clueless and relentless single mom obsessed with her son … especially the uncertainties of his sexual orientation.

Ms. Vardalos seems to have patterned her approach to the role after some of the wide-eyed over-the-top characters of Keenan Thompson from SNL. This is beyond caricature and it's also beyond annoying. The character is not believable in any sense, and is fortunately offset by more grounded performances from Jason Dolley, who plays her unfortunate son, and Mark Boone Junior, who plays her ex-husband and his father.

There is absolutely nothing wrong with taking on a topic like teenage sexual ambiguity/confusion with a comedic approach; however, much of this comes off like a cheesy sitcom. The only thing missing is the laugh track … and maybe Vardalos hiding behind a potted plant while wearing Groucho glasses and mustache. I say maybe, because it's possible the latter occurred during one of the many segments where I was rolling my eyes or shaking my head in disbelief.

Fortunately, there were some genuine father and son moments between Dolley and Boone. In fact, Boone's performance is so good, it's like someone changed the channel every time his character appears. Dolley and Skyler Samuels (The Duff) also have some very sweet and believable scenes together. It's just a shame that a moment as poignant as the confused son asking his father "When did you know you were straight?" is offset by mom publicly humiliating her kid and herself in yet another unimaginable display of inappropriate and cartoonish behavior.

The supporting cast also includes Kate Flannery (TV's "The Office"), Gillian Vigman (The Hangover), and Dallas' own Hockaday girl Lisa Loeb – who has a role as a teacher, and wrote the song for the opening credits.

Confusion over sexual orientation in teenagers is certainly a topic worthy of film treatment, as is the cultural phenomenon of helicopter parenting. The slapstick comedy approach seems to overwhelm the first message, while the 1980's sitcom style destroys any commentary on the second. The only person who thinks a boy's best friend is his mother is Norman Bates. And Hitchcock showed us how that turns out.

No masterpiece but fairly amusing

[Seth_Rogue_One · 6/10 · 6 May 2016]

I enjoyed it, but I can understand why some people wouldn't.

Nia Vardalos character gets a little annoying at times, the character she plays is extremely selfish (not much of a mother if you ask me) and pretty obnoxious.

She's basically a reversed homophobe... Like almost heterophobic, her desires to have a gay son can be compared with homophobic parents who tries to 'straighten out' their homosexual children.

All done in a very simplified light comedic way of course, but still a different and fairly interesting approach on the subject.

And luckily her son played by Jason Dolley is quite the opposite of her character and is likable as our main guy.

But the person who shines the most IMO is Mark Boone Jr who plays his ex-prisoner father who's just excellent.

So yeah nothing amazing, but more good than bad.

Helluva Mom

[Suradit · 4/10 · 21 September 2015]

The premise for the movie had potential, but it was ruined by overkill.

There's not too much originality in exploring the antics of an intrusive, micro-managing mother and her long-suffering off-spring, but to be effectively done, some subtlety and realistic reactions need to be present.

In this film, the mother goes beyond meddling and goes well into the realm of obnoxious smothering and the character's efforts to appear to be a free spirit dedicated to protecting her son engenders no sympathy for supposedly well-meaning intentions.

Even more difficult to believe is that her son bears all of this with amazing equanimity rather than resorting to suicide and/or matricide and that the other students at his school seem to barely notice the mother's constant manipulative presence.

There are a few worthwhile scenes where the son attempts to resolve his confused take on his own sexual orientation with his long absent father ... despite the fact that his mother has outed him as gay to everyone because it suits her plans to finance his college education, but for the most part the film is more excruciatingly annoying & cringe-worthy than humorous or moving.

Dumbest Movie I have ever seen.

[talesofterror5 · 2/10 · 13 September 2014]

This film is so stupid.I mean where does one begin? The mother (though the actress was really good) was plagued by a terrible script that made her attachment to her son seem like a reverse Oedipus Complex. Besides that this movie is cringe inducing with it's "gay humor" that doesn't really come off as funny but more unintentionally homophobic. You see only two gay teens (who are side characters in a movie trying to sell itself as an LGBT genre movie I might add)who act like the most stereotypical cartoons of real people ever made. The were kinda like the gay teens in high school that all the other gay teens don't like because they are stupid and obnoxious.If you are a gay like me it feels like a black guy watching a ministerial show. How this ever got a premiere at Frameline I will never know.

Amateur hour

[kidsnpuppies · 1/10 · 25 June 2015]

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.

Idiotic, annoying, patently unfunny, and anything but entertaining.

[yatesnbates · 1/10 · 26 April 2015]

Helicopter Mom is idiotic, annoying, patently unfunny, and blatantly homophobic. It is in many ways a film from a different and far worse era. Head-to-toe it plays like a lackluster piece of late-90s teen sit-com drek. The film isn't even remotely relevant and it overflows with dated references. Then there is the issue of the film's central plot: that a mother would be so aggressively separated from reality to determine that her son is gay before he has even reached a conclusion. It is ridiculous and disgustingly offensive. At every turn it simplifies a whole crop of people, defining them by nothing more than who they love, and aggressively stereotyping them along the way. As if this weren't enough to stop watching, it then cripples its characters with dialogue that is unrealistic and clumsy.

There are so many elements of Helicopter Mom that make it a failure. It is a lazily shot made- for-TV movie that certainly won't find an audience with any demographic. The script is written with the skill of a second-grader with no sense of character knowledge, spinning about with a dizzying amount of unmotivated character shifts. There is no consistency to anything and large sections of the film are absolutely incoherent.

The film is so mired in a quagmire of sub-mediocre drivel that it can be considered nothing but forgettable. The best thing that can be said about Helicopter Mom is there's an ending, unfortunately it comes ninety minutes too late.

I would give this 0 stars if possible.

[13SecondFilmReviews · 20 June 2020]

The writing felt like this could have been a script written by a non-film major in a screenwriting class at a local community college. It is riddled with some of the worst dialogue I have ever heard in a film. And then you have Nia Vardolos; she was so over-the-top that one has to wonder if she was binging on drugs or alcohol during the filming of this. I was in utter disbelief at how bad and rotorless this film was.

Fun movie with a lot of heart

[aerotopdog · 7/10 · 27 April 2015]

I found this movie very enjoyable. The performances are solid and it looks and sounds great. The story is well written, funny and punchy. I also thought it succeeded in using a very light and fun tone to raise awareness on a very real and sensitive issue.

Jason Dooley is believable in the lead role and creates a very sympathetic character. Not Nia Vardalos' best performance as his overbearing mom but she succeeds in getting the point across. I thought Mark Boone Jr. and Skyler Samuels were especially bright points and gave very honest and touching performances.

I highly recommend giving it a chance.

This flick is beyond idiotic

[sunshineformine · 2/10 · 14 December 2014]

Hands down, one of the worst flicks ever. Nia Vardolos is a gifted writer and actress and I adored her in "My Big Fat Greek Wedding." But someone steered her wrong in "Helicopter Mom."

Overview: Financially pressed single mom Maggie has some reason to wonder about her son's sexual identity. A sensitive type boy who hasn't had a relationship despite being pursued by girls at his school, especially pretty cheerleader Carrie, the boy finds himself attracted to both boys and girls. Maggie assumes he's gay and attempts to set him up with various males. She takes it upon herself to submit an application for him for a gay student college scholarship, forcing her son to play along with the deceit. From there it just keeps getting dumber.

This is worst than a bad sitcom. It's offensive, relies on poor stereotype jokes, and Nia is simply not her best in this. This flick is beyond idiotic!

Title character hides a good story.

[jjronin · 7/10 · 27 April 2015]

It is easy to call Helicopter Mom a movie about an overbearing mother. The movie starts defining the relationship between the mother and son but as the movie progresses, that theme is overshadowed by the meat of the movie which is more of a coming of age story of Lloyd and his journey of discovery.

Lloyd is definitely ahead of the game in that he can accept the fact that he is young and knows little about life and acknowledges it. Rather than defining himself in his limited world, He is accepting of new experiences and wants to go out and find out about him. Seeing the movie from this light, I am able to give it a few more stars.

Where the movie shined, was the moments of honesty. Some of the best moments in the movie come from the relationship and the interactions between the father and son. Both Lloyd and his father provide an interesting mirror in that his father knows who he is and is trying to be better while Lloyd is trying to know who he is so that he can do the same. It is these moments that made the movie special to me.

In this aspect, I liked what the movie was trying to do. Society's greater tolerance to individual identity allows us an exploration of the individual in a much broader sense than before. The addition of conflict with the mother, the school, the father etc. attempts to bring as many people as possible into this shared experience.

I agree with most of the other reviews in that the mother is a bit much. But having said that, if you're willing to cut the fat and see more than what is presented to you, you may like what you see.

This has amateur written all over it!

[lizdaldry · 1/10 · 29 April 2015]

This movie has little plot and zombie-like "acting" which puts the deep freeze on anything you might want to get out of the film. Aside from Ms. Vardalos, there's a reason the rest of the cast is made up of unknowns and little known bit players. Ms. Vardalos is astonishingly horrible in this and quickly making herself even less relevant than she's already become by being in amateur movies like Helicopter Mom.

There are zero redeeming qualities about this movie and everything from the cinematography to the wardrobe makes it look like a bad student film.

The only thing that's funny about this film is that apparently the sales company, distributor, production company, producer and/or director are posting bogus positive user reviews to try and trick people into watching this thing. 99% of the people see right through it which makes the losers behind this movie even more pathetic than they already are for putting out a trashy movie like this. The very few critic's who even bothered reviewing this movie unanimously panned it.

Even if you can download this thing for free off the internet, your time is worth far more than subjecting yourself to 80 minutes of stupidity.

Excellent movie with touching, new story line

[vicki-59 · 9/10 · 5 June 2014]

I had the pleasure to attend the world premier at the Seattle International Film Festival last night. This movie was great. The story line is original with the moral being 'what does it matter if someone is gay or straight, just love who you love'. Nia and Jason work flawlessly together and we learned at the premier that much of the dialog was off script. When the writer say "they made it funnier" you know there was magic.

I think my favorite character, next to Lloyd, was Carrie. She breaks the beautiful, popular, cheerleader mode flawlessly. Even I could of been friends with her!

I don't have a lot of experience writing reviews but I really want to support this independent project so, just go see it and judge for yourself!

Comedy, Drama, and Romance

[Ohmy_chai · 7/10 · 17 May 2015]

This movie has a few moments that got me laughing uncontrollably, and most of the time it was because of the mom. Some of these movies are hard to rate because it starts off horrible but has an amazing ending. I think it would be a good movie to watch with a mom just to say "Here is what not to do" There is obviously a lot of drama that comes with this movie that you would see in any movie where the lead is struggling with his/her sexuality, but I loved the romance most of all. The whole time you want these characters to get together but you never really know if it is gonna happen. If you want to waste some time then I suggest watching this: Helicopter Mom

Dummbest Movie ever.

[blitznoah · 1/10 · 27 April 2015]

This is no way to bring out a mother.. the way she is portrayed.. O MY GOSH>. so Nagy so unrealistic and SO condescending . its so obvious he is straight and yet leaves the poor girlfriend with no closure.. The last birthday surprise was total BS. made me vomit. not the way to portray mother's love.. its been insulted left and right and the girl she threw herself for him yet he does not reciprocate? every thing is weird except the DAD. Nice character well played.. but then This movie made me review ,. its so awfully bad. The Futile attempts to make comedy is nothing short of a disaster and I had so much respect for Nia Vardalos. She just ruined it..

But then its about a Helicopter mom who always hovers.. that she does.. teaches a lesson how NOT to be as a parent but these lessons are too frugal .. no meaning no depth.. nothing is right with the examples given..This is Sexual harassment from mom to ask a son what he Masturbates to.. Its the dad's job.. for the lack of one.. there was one.. Ugly jokes..Come on? sticking posters? way too much

Was Nia Vardalos trying to commit career suicide?!

[planktonrules · 2/10 · 21 June 2017]

"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.

Forgettable With A Touch Of Offensive

[meaninglessbark · 3/10 · 8 March 2017]

Helicopter Mom

The 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.

Nobody is renting this drek for a reason...

[studiochiq · 1/10 · 25 May 2015]

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.

Hands down one of the worst attempts at comedy!!!!

[suewestmore-31691 · 2/10 · 23 April 2015]

My first question is, who was the genius producer who read this material and thought it would be a good idea to make this a film? That person is either extremely ignorant, illiterate, or both. My second question is, has Nia Vardalos' career taken such a dive that she is now forced to take acting jobs in D-level movies like this crap? I turned this thing off after forty minutes (which was forty minutes too long) because it was completely and utterly unwatchable. It's not funny, the dialogue is unbearable, the acting is worst than community theatre level, and the entire film looks like the budget was $20,000. Everything about this film reeks of amateurism. It's a complete joke! Who in their right mind sets out to make nonsense like this??

I won't carry on further about this turd of a film other than to say don't waster your precious time or money!

This poorly written rubbish fails on every level!

[lgbt · 1/10 · 15 May 2015]

What the hell is Nia Vardalos doing acting in this POS of a movie? Did she even bother reading the script? Did she owe director Salome Breziner a favor so huge to agree to lower herself by being in this rubbish and, in turn, severely hurt her chances of ever being in a legit film ever again? Mark Boone is a friend of Salome's but come on Jr., sometimes you just gotta look after your own arse and say "no."

Duke Tran, the film's screenwriter, has absolutely zero talent and suffice it to say I highly doubt he'll ever find a writing job in Hollywood, or anywhere for that matter, ever again. Salome...what the hell are you wasting your talent directing rubbish like this? This is way below your level! As far as the producers go, which moron out of the bunch read this script and jumped in the air and said "I have to make this!" I would put money on it that not one of the producers has been educated past the 12th grade...and that's being generous!

Okay, now that I got that out of the way, her we go:

Attempting to make an overbearing character endearing is a tricky proposition, and it's one that Nia fails miserably at in this film. The story of a mother who tries to steamroll her sexually confused teenage son into adopting a gay lifestyle, Nia quickly wears out her welcome. Stupid concept, stupid execution.

BOTTOM LINE: This poorly written rubbish fails on every level!

Heartwarming Coming Of Age Film

[jamesjohnpillion · 9/10 · 27 April 2015]

A smartly written coming of age film about a young man and his struggle with his sexual identity. While the overall plot line feels a little rehashed with its high school setting, it paves new territory with its main character. A high school senior is forced to confront his feelings when his overly-possessive mom takes the reigns on his life. Jason Dolley is interesting to watch while Nia Vardalos plays the overbearing mom with alarming ease. Mark Boone Junior stole the show for me - his performance is so honest and organic that it really brought the whole film together in a very positive way. While I didn't find it laugh out loud funny there are certainly moments that ring true to life in a funny kind of way. If you're after a feel-good film, this is it!

For real?

[bkoganbing · 2/10 · 16 February 2017]

Stupid movies come out all the time. There are bad films on gay related subjects. But this one had the imprimatur of the Points Foundation which is a group that gives scholarships to deserving LGBT youth. Very important because there are a lot of gay kids still subject to bullying which tends to stifle education. Believe me I know.

There could probably have been made a serious film on that issue, but the producers of Helicopter Mom opted for a truly bad, not only bad, but insulting comedy. In a plot borrowed somewhat from the 80s Soul Man, this overbearing Mom played by Nia Vardalos decides that her son Jason Dolley has to get a scholarship from somewhere to afford college in the East. So what to do, but out him with some of the usual results gay kids face. She even tries to find him dates.

In point of fact the kid is in the category of questioning. We all develop our sexuality at our own pace. A topic that also could have been handled better.

Here in my city I support the Embrace WNY group and it's annual brunch which among other things also provides scholarships for deserving LGBT youth. I think the talent there among those who sponsor and participate could come up with a better film.

They couldn't do much worse.

A heartwarming tale of the most patient teenager in existence.

[ruthann-m-thompson · 8/10 · 27 April 2015]

I was so pleasantly/painfully entertained by this movie! Nia Vardalos (My Big Fat Greek Wedding) plays Maggie, and entirely over the top and completely real "Helicopter Mom". A term I had never heard of before this movie but have seen so many times first hand. She is always smothering her terribly patient teenage son, Lloyd, played by Jason Dolly (Good Luck Charlie) who is so incredibly believable as a confused and lonely teenager cut off from the world from his over protective mom.

Be ready to feel SO uncomfortable nearly every moment while Maggie tortures her son with no boundaries or privacy and WAY too much information. Nia Vardalos brings so much love and hilarity to such an easily hated character.

The only balm to her character's nonstop "bee stings" of obsessive nit-picking is Mark Boone Junior (Batman Begins) as Max, Lloyd's father. The chemistry between Boone and Nia is so charming it is only topped by the loving father son relationship with Jason. These scenes are such a necessary, heartwarming break from the constant edge-of-your-seat embarrassment that is Lloyd's mom.

All in all this is a beautifully written, well directed and perfectly cast movie. I can't say I "enjoyed" all the ridiculously awkward moments since I covered my eyes and plugged my ears more often than watching a horror movie- but this is truly a story from the heart that I'm glad I experienced.

Heartwarming tale about a mothers inability to let go

[lechurro · 10/10 · 27 April 2015]

As a low budget indie film it is impressive how professional the story is told. I saw this movie at the premiere and thought it was lovely.

The story revolves around the relationship between a mother and her son who is on the way to college.It has plenty of awkward cringe humor and is very relatable to anybody with an over bearing mother. The scenes between the father and son are especially moving and only are enough to make the movie worth watching. The handling of the LGBT issue is masterfully done with sensitivity to an evolving sexual identification. The film does a great job with painting his confusion through POV perspective shots of the male figure and wonderfully acted and extremely cute female.

Amazing movie!!

[arfseoane · 10/10 · 27 April 2015]

I attended the projection of this film in a Film Festival in Madrid (Spain).

Maggie (Nia Vardalos) enjoys thinking that her son is gay and this leads to some extreme situations like a confused teenager Lloyd (Jason Dolley), good job for both and I loved the role of his Dad, Max (Mark Boorne JR).

I liked the staging of the film and characters showing in it . It's a script that tells a nice story, with good direction and good production.

It is a very fun comedy and recommended for all audiences.

Nice argument

[lorenzorfman · 10/10 · 27 April 2015]

It is flawlessly crafted, intelligently constructed, strongly acted and spellbinding. The story revolves around the relationship between a mother and her son who is on the way to college.It has plenty of awkward cringe humor and is very relatable to anybody with an over bearing mother. The scenes between the father and son are especially moving and only are enough to make the movie worth watching. The handling of the LGBT issue is masterfully done with sensitivity to an evolving sexual identification. The film does a great job with painting his confusion through POV perspective shots of the male figure and wonderfully acted and extremely cute female. Nice argument. Good job!!! Well done.