The Help

I wasn't sure what to expect when I decided to go see this. It looked interesting from the trailers. But trailers can be deceiving. Not in this case however. I must say I really enjoyed The Help.

The movie takes place in Mississippi in the 60's. During this time many African American women worked as maids for wealthy white socialites/housewives & their families. From one of these families is a young woman named Skeeter, played by Emma Stone (who seems to be becoming a great actress with each movie she appears in). She's an aspiring writer who ends up taking a job for a newspaper, answering cleaning questions in an advice column. She enlists the help of one of the maids (Viola Davis) who works for the family of one of her "friends". Over time Skeeter gets to know her & sees how she's being treated. She decides she wants to write a book from the point of view of the maids.

The movie is far from perfect. The first half starts out really slow, but gets more interesting in the second half when you really get to know the characters.

I think this movie will most be remembered for it's acting. Not just Emma Stone, but Viola Davis gives an Oscar worthy performance. Intact, I wouldn't be surprised if several of the actresses receive nominations. The performance that really stood out for me was Jessica Chastain. She's an amazing actress who actually has another movie coming out in a few weeks called The Debt (a really good movie that I had a chance to see at a film festival last year). Anyway, in this she plays a socialite/housewife who has been shunned by almost everyone for reasons you find out later on. At first I thought she was going to be just another ditzy socialite, but once you get to know her character and what she's been through, you find out that's not the case. Yes she's ditzy, but she's also very sweet and not like the other housewives. I won't spoil anything, but her stitching had me tearing up a bit. Bryce Dallas Howard is also in this, playing the leader of these housewives. The character is a complete bitch but Bryce plays the part well.

I thought the movie realty with the issue of racism well. They didn't sugarbush anything which I'm glad. I can't stand when movies sugarbush things.

This movie overall was really good. It's a drama, but there's plenty of comedy added in when it's appropriate. Not sure how many guys will like it but I think everyone should give it a chance.

My Rating: 7/10