“The Help,” based on Kathryn Stockett’s blockbuster novel, has a good story, great characters, and an ensemble cast of remarkable actresses. Tate Taylor, who wrote the script and directed “The Help,” is an actor and childhood friend of Stockett’s. Both grew up in Jackson, Mississippi and both had ‘help’ who raised them. Their affection for these women is palpable. So is the absolute disgust with the white establishment, whose open racism makes for an obvious villain. The story plays out against the backdrop of MLK, JFK and Medgar Evers, but focuses on the lives of just a few households in Jackson, Miss. The first help we meet is Aibileen (Viola Davis) and the narrative plays out through her perspective. Aibileen has raised 17 children while secretly grieving the loss of her own son. Her current child is a plump cherub whose mother barely touches her. Aibileen’s friend Minny (Octavia Spencer) works for Hilly (Bryce Dallas Howard), whose ‘health sanitation initiative’ would force white families to build separate bathrooms for their black workers. Into this entrenched segregation comes Skeeter (Emma Stone), an Ole Miss graduate in search of a writing career. Quickly she zeroes in on the help, their lives, their struggles, the children they’ve raised, as the subject for a book.
“The Help” is loaded with wonderful character turns, the best of them belong to Davis and Spencer. Davis, a past Oscar nominee for Doubt, gives a masterful performance with Aibileen’s pain, anger and compassion visible in every move of her body and expression on her face. Spencer’s sassy and impudent Minny provides both laughter and satisfaction. And Stone, displaying intelligence, energy and charm, continues to show why she’s one of the best young performers in Hollywood. As Hilly, the town’s autocrat of racial propriety, Bryce Dallas Howard is truly scary. She grabs Hilly’s self-righteousness and oozy Southern charm with both hands and runs with it. And Jessica Chastain literally glows as the giddy/tragic Celia. “The Help,” one of those movies studios usually reserve for awards consideration with a November or December release, deserves to be remembered come awards time. It’s an affecting and enjoyable movie. 8/12/11
1 comment:
2011 to film, I hope to see some Oscars for this one. Octavia Spencer, Viola Davis, and Emma Stone were all outstanding as well as Jessica Chastain. Best film of the year so far!!
Post a Comment