The Help Review

Justin and I just got back from seeing The Help on August 12, 2011. This was a phenomenal film!! The movie centers around two themes: Eugenia "Skeeter" Phelan's ambition to be a journalist and write serious pieces of work and the racial schism prevalent in the South during the 1960s in Jackson, Mississippi. Emma Stone's breakout role may have been in Easy A, but this is the movie that will cement her career. She showed that she has great acting chops and she is becoming a favorite of mine with her last three films from Easy A, to Crazy, Stupid, Love to this. She wants to gain the perspective of the African American women who work as maids for the white upper/middle class families. They look after the babies and raise them to become members of society. I think this movie produces some of the best acting I've seen in quite some time. I think the greatest parts of this movie lie with three people: Viola Davis (Adelaide), Octavia Spencer (Minni), and Jessica Chastain (Celia), along with Stone's part. The movie plays with your emotions so well and does an excellent job of portraying society during the time period. The main antagonist, Hillie Holbrook, played perfectly by Bryce Dallas Howard makes you love to hate her. She is pure racist through and through and does a great example of how the babies that the African American maids looked after and cared for them grew up and became uncaring much like their parents had been. You can just sense the tension on the screen when she and Adelaide or her and Minni (well basically anyone of the African American maids she shares a scene with) are together. My personal favorite part is the relationship between Minni and Celia. There is respect between the two and each helps each other in perfecting their life. Celia resembles Marilyn Monroe almost to a T in my opinion. I must point out that I thought Alison Janney's role as Eugenia's mother was great. Janney has always been great from the West Wing, to Juno (of course starring my favorite actress Ellen Page), and how can we forget 10 Things I Hate About You? It got me emotional because her character has cancer throughout the movie and though she lives in the old ways of society, she learns that her daughter is right in her views. Sissy Spacek was pure comedy gold in this movie and the audience couldn't get enough of her. There were some powerful scenes, especially Adelaide's relationship with Elizabeth's daughter is so amazing as well as Eugenia's relationship with Constantine, who was her maid when she was younger. Also, be on the lookout for a brief cameo by Nelson Ellis who some may know as Lafayette Reynolds in True Blood. Ironically enough, he plays a cook. Some other scenes that are amazing are the infamous pie scene as it will be known I'm sure, the charity fundraiser, Adelaide and Elizabeth's daughter having a personal bond with the phrase "I is kind, I is smart, I is important" and Alison Janey confronting Hillie basically ready to deck her while she is battling cancer. Great, raw emotion, excellent cast, AMAZING acting (if there are no nominations for this movie it's beyond ridiculous). This movie earned a 5/5 and every piece of this movie was amazing.

I really don't know how to follow up on Gerard's review. So I will not try. I also give this movie a 5/5. This is one of the most perfectly executed movies I have seen in a long time. I had thought that we would never see a movie like this from "Dreamworks" again. I am hoping this is not a flash in the pan for this studio which has so much potential to challenge the likes of "Focus Features" and "Weinstein Studios".  This had better get nominations in Acting, Directing and Best Picture.