"The Help" is the best film I've seen so far this year. It's not a masterpiece by any means, but it succeeds so well by seamlessly mixing drama and comedy and by being a message movie that never feels preachy. In fact, it's a quite entertaining crowd-pleaser (as evidenced by its nearly $160 million in domestic box office dollars so far) that feels much shorter than its two-and-a-half hour running time. It also features no less than five outstanding performances, with a couple of other scene-stealers as well.
Based on the novel by Kathryn Stockett, the film opens in 1963 with Eugenia "Skeeter" Phelan (Emma Stone) returning home to Jackson, Mississippi after graduating from the University of Mississippi. Rather than settling down and looking for a husband, as is generally expected of women in that time and place, Skeeter gets a job writing a household cleaning column for the local newspaper, which she hopes is a stepping stone to becoming a professional writer. As she reconnects with her friends and family in Jackson, her eyes begin to be opened to the deplorable way in which African-Americans--particularly women--are treated in the Jim Crow South. What catches her attention the most is the plan of Hilly Holbrook (Bryce Dallas Howard) to get a law passed requiring black maids who work in the homes of white women to have separate bathrooms outside the houses. Skeeter begins talking with Aibileen (Viola Davis) a black maid who has suffered much under the harsh conditions for blacks in Jackson. As Aibileen opens Skeeter's eyes to the awful injustices black women in the town are faced with, she becomes interested in collecting the stories of various maids and compiling them into a book...an act which, under one of the Jim Crow Laws in Mississippi, could land her in prison.
"The Help" succeeds so well because of a great script and a host of wonderful performances. The screenplay from Tate Taylor (who also directed) manages to shed light on the awful situation faced by the maids without ever becoming overbearingly preachy or depressing. Horrible things certainly do happen, and more are discussed in Skeeter's conversations with Aibileen, but they never become the focus of the film. Taylor also mixes in plenty of lighter moments as well, which actually give the darker scenes more weight, as the film sometimes changes tone abruptly. The film is beautiful to look at as well, perfectly capturing the feel of the South. All the production work, from to the cinematography to the art direction to the costumes, is simply great. Thomas Newman also contributes a lively score.
The real showcase here though is the acting. This is a film in which all the major characters are women; in fact men barely figure in the story at all. And there are so many good performances that half of the ten female acting nominations at the Oscars could easily be filled from this film. Leading the way is Viola Davis as Aibileen with a perfectly balanced emotional performance. Aibileen has always chosen to just quietly perform her duties, no matter what terrible things happen around her, because she simply sees no other alternative. But as she begins to open up to Skeeter about her past and the things that she has seen, Davis truly shines. Stone is wonderful as well; I think she's one of the most likeable actresses out there, and while she has mainly done comedic roles before, she has some dramatic moments here that show evidence of a talent that could well make her a major, major star before too long.
The supporting performances are great as well. Octavia Spencer stands out the most as Minny, the fiery maid who works for Hilly and suffers abuse in her own home. Spencer shifts seamlessly between the funnier moments and the more heartbreaking ones, sometimes in a single scene. Bryce Dallas Howard plays Hilly as something close to incarnate evil in the form of a beautiful southern woman. She is an utterly despicable character, but Howard never takes her too over the top. Jessica Chastain is also terrific as Celia, a rich but ditzy outsider who doesn't share the same disdain for blacks that most everyone else in the town seems to. Sissy Spacek and Allison Janney are also great in smaller roles as Hilly's and Skeeter's mothers, respectively.
Overall, "The Help" is simply a wonderful film. It tells an uplifting, hopeful story about an utterly shameful period in American history. And while we are reminded at the end of the film that blacks in the South will continue to struggle for equality, we are also incredibly encouraged by what just a few people can do when they stand up to injustice.
"The Help" is rated PG-13 for thematic material.
Running time: 146 minutes.
Released domestically on August 10, 2011, by Touchstone Pictures.
3.5 stars out of 4
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