The Help- Movie Review

Directed by Tate Taylor
Screenplay by Taylor, based on the book by Kathryn Stockett
Running Time: 137 minutes (2h, 17 mins.)
Rated PG-13 (for thematic material)
Distributor: Disney (Dreamworks Pictures, released under the Touchstone Pictures banner)

The 1960's. A time when smoking was considered cool, suits were the In thing, and women were wearing girdles. Thanks to Mad Men, the 60's is making a comeback with more television shows and movies. The Help is one of those movies, but it touches on an issue that the world knows all too well: racism.

The film, based on Kathryn Stockett's bestselling book, is set in Jackson, Mississippi where Skeeter Phelan (Emma Stone), a young college graduate and aspiring writer, comes back to her hometown and gets herself a job at the Jackson Journal. But the film isn't always about her. It's mostly centered around two African-American maids who are best friends: Aibileen Clark (Viola Davis) and Minny Jackson (Octavia Spencer). Aibileen has been raising white children all her life and she knew she would be, considering her mother was a maid. She is the employee of Elizabeth Leefolt (Ahna O'Reilly). Minny, however, has a reputation as a difficult employee. She's recently been fired by the racist social group leader, Hilly Holbrook (Bryce Dallas Howard) after many years of service. Hilly is the enemy of the three main characters. She obviously needs a job, so she decides to work for Celia Foote (Jessica Chastain), a blonde bombshell who knows nothing about being a housewife. She only wants Minny during the days her businessman husband is away. When Skeeter comes in, she's the only white girl who really sees how black people are treated, so she asks Aibileen and Minny to help her write a book that tells their stories from their perspective. This is risky at first, but as the time goes by, more maids come in and the book becomes a bestseller.

Now, you know that this is one of those films that plans to inspire audiences, but in a time like this, many inspiring stories often get turned into stereotypical Hollywood cheese. Thankfully, The Help isn't cheesy. It isn't anywhere near cheesy. It does give this realistic approach to how black people were treated, though at times, it's played a bit safe, which is actually fine by me. Besides the drama, there is some comedic scenes in here as well, one involving a chocolate pie. Tate Taylor is the director and screenwriter of this movie. If you don't know who he is, that's okay. It's his first film, anyway. But what makes the film so personal behind the scenes is that Taylor is a longtime friend of Kathryn Stockett, the author of the book. Octavia Spencer is also good friends with Taylor and Stockett, in fact Spencer is Stockett's main inspiration for the character Minny and I could see why. She's very funny, talkative and tells it like it is, something that was very clear when she made a guest appearance on an episode of The Big Bang Theory. 

She's great in this movie as well as Viola Davis, who steals every scene that she's in. I like Emma Stone is this as well. She's a comedic actress and it shows in some of her scenes, but she proves that she can handle dramatic material as well, especially in the scenes where she's trying to find out what happened to her own maid, who took care of her for many years. Bryce Dallas Howard is good when playing bad, although I've seen other actors play roles like this a bit better. After her breakout performance in Terrence Malick's The Tree of Life, Jessica Chastain is still proving why she's one to watch. Her performance in this film is infectious and one you can't turn away from. The score from Thomas Newman (one of my favorite composers) is pretty good in here too. Like in all the movies he composes, his score is very atmospheric and engaging and that helps the emotional scenes as well as the comedic scenes.

Overall, I liked the film. The cast is strong, the script is well-written and the direction is pretty fine, so I give the film *** (3 stars).