The Help (5 out of 5 stars)
Touchstone/ December 6, 2011
I loved The Help the book. I couldn’t put it down. So the movie had very very large shoes to fill and I fully expected to be disappointed as I am with ALL movie adaptations of books I love (Something Borrowed, anyone?) But I LOVED the movie. He casting was spot-on and the story stayed true and was perfectly adapted.
If you’ve been living under a rock, The Help is about a group of women in the 1960s south—the black maids who run the white women’s homes and raise their children, and one such white woman, Skeeter (Emma Stone), who writes a book telling their stories. What makes The Help so utterly likeable is the characters. Not just the main ones, but even the side characters like Celia Foote (Jessica Chastain), a daffy blonde who doesn’t fit in with the other ladies but desperately wants to.
The scenes with Aibileen (Viola Davis) and baby Mae Mobley and her mother Elizabeth completely broke my heart. That poor child was completely neglected by her mother and found a connection with the maid who loved her. That was a common story at the time.
Not everyone loved the film, but I did and I’m super-picky. Don’t get me wrong—it’s not perfect. Hilly (Bryce Dallas Howard) at times comes off a little over-the-top, but the story is just so powerful and engrossing, I can overlook it to give it perfect stars.
The Blu-Ray is gorgeous to look at and the sound is great. The movie is mostly talk so there’s not much to look for there. Extras include:
· Deleted Scenes
· Music Video: "The Living Proof"
· Additional Deleted Scenes
· Featurette: "The Making of 'The Help': From Friendship to Film" looks at the lifelong friendship between director Tate Taylor and Kathryn Stockett, author of the book.
· Featurette: "In Their Own Words: A Tribute to the Maids of Mississippi" profiles several black maids who outline their duties, talk about their thwarted dreams and grueling schedules, address the issue of segregation, and share some personal memories.
I will be including this movie when I teach “To Kill A Mockingbird” as I think the story will really appeal to grade 10 students as an accompaniment to the novel. Despite the trailers, this isn’t just a feel-good comedy, but a real hard look at what was happening in the Jim Crow Laws era. I say it was one of the best movies of last year.
