Review: The Help

The Help

8/16/11

Carmike Cinema 10

Large Mr. Pibb

Plenty of A/C

Every now and then a movie comes along that you end up telling everyone to go see.  Super 8  was one, Forrest Gump back in the day, The Shawshank Redemption.  The Help is on that list.  Don’t confuse that for me saying it’s Top 10 or anything like that, but it shocked the hell out of me. 

I’ll admit it, I was dreading going to see it.  This looked like a classic chick flick.  Right up there with The Notebook, The Last Song and pretty much any other movie starting with “The” that features a trailer with all women, lot’s of crying, potentially kissing in the rain and some sort of conflict.  Also I’m pretty much out on anything featured in any sort of book club or anything mentioned at any time by Oprah.  Even at the theater I was worried since I was literally the only guy in there and brought the average age down to about 67.

By the end I had cried 3 times, wanted to see it again and proceeded to sing it’s praises to this very day.  Every man, woman and child over the age of 10 needs to see this movie.  People have asked what I would compare it to and the closest comparison is Forrest Gump…that’s tall company.  But I felt the same way after seeing this that I did after I saw that. 

Skeeter is a recent college graduate living in Jackson, MS in the early 60’s with her family and no hopes for employment in her chosen field of journalism.  She lands a job at the local paper writing an advice column that had been abandoned for some time.  She also has a spot in her heart for the African-American women of the day in the South who not only help raise the white children they serve but come to love the families they spend their days with.  Aibileen is played brilliantly by Viola Davis and is the maid for one of Skeeter’s childhood friends.  Tired of the racist and demeaning attitudes her friends have toward their maids, she decides to write a book of their stories as told by The Help.  The controversial book becomes the talk of the town and causes denials to fly. 

The movie is touching, well made and extremely well acted by all involved.  I expect Oscar nominations for Davis, her best friend played by Octavia Spencer, Emma Stone for her portrayal of Skeeter and for Bryce Dallas Howard playing a snotty racist. 

Guys, this is a chance for you to score some points by taking your wives, you won’t be sorry.  Just bring tissue.

My review: 

3.5/4, A, See it in the theater