The Help Reviews

A fantastic ensemble cast gives us a peek at a time when the most disparaged people in American society were, ironically, responsible for its future generations. "The Help" is a drama about the willful ignorance of many and the self-realization of the subjugated few. It is about finding beauty in dark places and darkness in places where we expect light. Sounds heavy (and it is) but it is delivered in such a palatable, heartwarming, and eloquent fashion that the tragedy is trumped by the triumph.

What a beautiful movie this is on all levels. Heart-wrenching at times when it holds up a mirror to our checkered past (and present) with race issues but never cold and dour. Quite the contrary, in fact. The film is heartfelt and genuinely funny to the point that you marvel at how deftly it balances these elements with the deadly serious subject matter. One moment you'll laugh and the next you'll hold back tears. Even more impressive, it manages to be wholly entertaining while never losing its message in the experience.

It goes without saying that the cast would have to be absolutely wonderful to pull off what the film demands. Undoubtedly, they are the standout highlight of the film. Even then, Emma Stone, Viola Davis, and Octavia Spencer manage to shine above their colleagues as the heart of the affair and, rightfully so, the main leads. These ladies do such a wonderful job of doing that aforementioned balancing act when it comes to the material. Jessica Chastain is also notably lovable as the somewhat ditzy but open-minded and kind-hearted Celia Foote. And, lest we forget, Bryce Dallas Howard is perfectly detestable as the elitist Hilly Hobrook.

The set and costume design are gorgeously complimented by picturesque cinematography and apropos score and soundtrack which only rounds the picture out as a perfect package.

There is much to love and experience when watching "The Help". It stands as a stark reminder of a horrible past and how easy it might be for people in the present to excuse their shortcomings and overlook the plight of others. It's also an empowering experience for women of color and otherwise. Most notably, it shines as a beacon of hope in the face of great adversity. Absolutely love this film. 9/10

I'm starting to wonder if I'm becoming "soft." I've recently written positive reviews to shamelessly manipulative and schmaltzy films like War Horse, Forrest Gump, and The Terminal (the latter of which I gave a perfect score to), and I intend to do so again with The Help. It now falls on me to explain why the obvious manipulation and tear-ripping scenes in The Help are credible as "artful" or "skillful." It's a hard case to deliver, but someone's got to do it.

Surprisingly NOT based on a true story (one of the only feel-good cliches this film doesn't follow) The Help is about a recent college graduate named Skeeter who is increasingly appalled by the casual racism that she is surrounded by. She decides to interview as many black maids as possible in order to write a book from their perspective so that white folk would see the injustice of their actions. This is easier said then done, though, as most blacks are terrified of their masters discovering their contribution to this book. Skeeter is only able to get two maids to help her; Aibileen and Minny.

Well, the film IS manipulative. And it's heavily flawed. But the film succeeds because of a number of things. For one, it's just plain entertaining thanks to an interesting premise and likable characters. For another, the acting is excellent. The characters are likable, but very thinly written. It's up to the actors to flesh them out into fully dimensional characters, and honestly, they do wonderfully.

The acting highlight is Viola Davis as Aibileen, the protagonist-ish of the film (shares this title with Skeeter). The subtlety in her expressions and dialogue delivery is astounding. She sells this strong, independent woman who is forced to subdue her opinions and dignity to keep her job. She is the heart of this film. Not far behind is Octavia Spencer as Minny Jackson. Like Aibileen, she's strong and fierce, but she has an element of spunk. This is a tired cliche of a character that Spencer breathes new life into. We root for her, because we believe her.

The white cast is generally less impressive, but they also have a lot less to work with. Emma Stone does what she can with an offensively bland character (despite being the lead). Stone brings intricacies that are not in the script, but she's leagues behind Spencer and Davis. Bryce Dallas Howard has the thankless role of the antagonist, a blatant racist (though she considers herself a good Christian). She's venomous in her performance, and thus impresses. It's almost a shame to say, though, that the acting highlight for the white side of the cast is Leslie Jordan as Mr. Blackly, a newspaper editor. He creates more energy and entertainment than most of the other supporting characters (furthering the myth that newspaper editors are the best scene stealers). Also notable are child actors Emma and Elanor Henry portraying four year old Mae Mobley Leefolt. A scene between her and Aibeleen at the end is heart-breaking.

The Help has a wide variety of problems, let alone the film's obvious attempts at emotional poignancy that can be seen from a mile away. There's an unnecessary sub-plot about Skeeter finding a boy friend. When she does find one, we don't buy the relationship, and none of it has anything to do with the rest of the film anyway. This is a 146 minute film. And though it's fairly entertaining from start-to-finish, it could have been shorter had unnecessary characters and sub-plots like that had been removed.

Also uniquely problematic is Thomas Newman's score. On one hand, it avoids the cliche of including a swelling orchestra during emotional moments, instead offering reflective piano performances and some quiet strings. The problem is that his score doesn't really fit the picture. It's far too modern, and as expected from Newman, contains some wacky instrumentation and effects that are just distracting. It may be enjoyable out of context, but it doesn't fit with the film. Newman would accomplish a more fitting score for this time period when he scores Saving Mr. Banks a couple years later.

The Help is certain to annoy cynical audiences, but I think most will be satisfied with this interesting look at racism. It's pleasant, but it's not afraid to bare its teeth on occasion, which pushes this beyond your typical feel-good film. It's certainly not perfect, nor without ironic flaws (leave it to the white person to save the blacks), but it's charming and entertaining, and has real depth thanks to its talented cast.

Amazing :)

This movie was amazing Viola and Octavia knocked it out of the park. Emma Stone amd Jessica Chastain were also amazing. The story follows the hardships of African-American house maids in the 1960s and Skeeter played by Emma Stone writes a book telling their stories called "The Help". This movie kept me glued the whole time you just can't help but be glued to it. The cast is amazing everyone puts on awesome performances. Check out this movie if you haven't seen it.

Honestly, when I heard about this flick, I wasn’t really interested but since it got some decent reviews and some solid ratings (it was even in the IMDb top 250 for a while), I was eventually quite eager to check it out. Well, eventually, it reminded me of ‘The Blind Side’, another drama about a white woman helping a young black man which was a huge success at the box-office and, like this movie, was nominated for the Best Picture Academy award. Personally, I didn’t like much ‘The Blind Side’ and this movie didn’t really blow me away either. At least, it was dealing with an important part of American history. Basically, the main issue I have with this kind of movies, is that, unintentionally, it gives the idea that black folks are helpless until a white person comes to help them. This time, at least, even though Emma Stone was supposedly the main character, Octavia Spencer and Viola Spencer definitely stole the show. Indeed, as long as the movie was focusing on these black women, it was quite spellbinding to watch but it started to loose momentum everytime the white women had the main stage. For example, there were some half-baked plots about a romance involving Emma Stone, some murky rivalry involving Jessica Chastain (which was fine even though her character was poorly developed) and even though Bryce Dallas Howard was quite fearless a a villain, her character was borderline a caricature though. Anyway, to conclude, it was an important subject served by some strong performances but, at the end of the day, it remains a decent drama but not much more than that I’m afraid.

Some people might think that this is petty, but it's just my own damn opinion, and whether it's deluded and artless or not, I'll leave to others to decide. And maybe I just got forced to sit through one too many of these during elementary school during the 90s: I am not claiming to be the mythical Objective Audience here.

But, basically, I understand that this is what it was like during the 60s. (But you don't understand! Well, I can sure recognize this being the 60s-- is that good enough?) But I also thought that it was too damn long.... And, to be honest, even though I wouldn't mind watching a women's flick-- I don't like to flaunt literary nonsense, but I have read "The L-Shaped Room"-- but I don't like it when I'm supposed to dislike a large proportion of the ladies in the cast because of the whole ugly *race* issue.... And, to be honest, I don't like being implicitly disliked by our little heroine here! (Sorry, but that's actually how I feel!)

So, no! this is not going on my list of favorite films.

But, since everybody likes to hear about irrational biases, let me open up and share some of mine:

I had to watch it with my family, and whenever my (rude, white) family likes something, I take that as a good rule of thumb for something to avoid liking-- call me crazy.

And, call me a self-hater, but I have a sort of auto-suspicion that flares up whenever I'm asked to lionize an intellectual at the expense of the socialites.... It's just so damn *common* these days, and it's almost stupidly easy to figure out how easy it would be to use this movie to demonize everyone who plays cards.... (And, unfortunately, I'm a well-educated twenty-three year old man, (unemployed), who knows well enough that he ought to suppress his real feelings about life, feelings, and the universe, but.... I don't know. I guess it's not so unfortunate after all, because I guess that I'm suppressing my desire to suppress all this-- aren't I?)

And, I mean, it's not a *terrible* movie.... It certainly has lots of *drama* and *accuracy*.... If you're into that kind of thing....

But, I don't know-- 'Sometimes I am in need of other pleasures, of little joys, of reasons for living, or even, of existing.'

*shrugs* So, you can go save the world; I'll hang back here and try to get a seat at the card table....

Yeah, even though it would be stupidly easy to use this movie to demonize everyone who plays cards.

{Do you prefer books to cards, I say that that is singular, said Mr Hurst....}

{*smiles* And now it's your turn to be honest about something-- *why* don't you like the white socialites-- really? Is it because you don't like Kim Kardashian?}

{*laughs* I mean, she's actually sitting there, actually reading the actual literal text of the race laws of the State of Alabama, or wherever-- and when is the last time that *you* sat down and read the actual literal text of some Law passed by Congess-- the 9000 pages of lawyer's prattle, which can usually be summarized in four sentences or less-- and it's like.... 'Do you have fun?' (You don't like Kim Kardashian, do you? You do realize that this is the 1964 equivalent of *People*, right?') '(imagine her doing it with a Southern drawl) Is that important?' ('Oh no, I would rather read the text of a law, than read about Kim Kardashian....') And I'm sitting there, trying to figure who hates Kim more-- the Alabama State Legislator, ('Would *Moses* have been reading trashy magazines, instead of giving Laws to God's People!?'), or the Ism girl, who must needs be at war with the It girl-- i.e. Edie Sedgwick, for example. (A white girl, born in Santa Barbara California, whose kinsmen had been illustrious hardboiled Civil War (Northern) generals, who were probably scandalized as fuck to hear that she ended up being a slutty socialite, instead of sitting in church to hear about the Laws that God gave to Moses!}

{*laughs*}

{And, I don't know how to explain it really.... In some ways, 'historical fiction' is way more useful than (political!) 'history', and you know what I mean, even if this is still within living memory, and therefore (semi!) contemporary.... It's just that people were *very* hardboiled back in the 60s.... Not everybody was like Edie Sedgwick, no.}

{I mean, I've read a short history of Mexico, so I know all about all of the racist white Mexican intellectual elites who wanted to promote European immigration during the 19th century to further impoverish, &c., the native Indian masses.... but that doesn't mean that you could drop me off in Mexico City and expect me to be able to figure out how to order myself some tacos.... That's the thing. *Really* understanding a period comes from understanding *what it was like*, and that comes from fiction-- not from the 'non-fiction' of politics-- because it comes from *people* and even the bare biographical details-- born 1911-- a time of political unrest in general, including suffragette stuff, but obviously one does not participate in political rallies as an infant-- yet another example of how often the knowledge of political history *simply isn't relevant*, biography trumps history, really, but even bare biographical bones do not quite equate to the living flesh of fiction, if the *setting* is more important than the *characters*.... *laughs* And that is the surest way to misplace the setting, too! }

{*laughs* God! I'm just such a locquacious mick, well, I guess that I have my father to blame for that! And much else besides, maybe! I mean, do you know how men like him acted back in the 70s! *laughs*}

{And my mom, in the pitch-black midnight ignorance of her knowledge of me, thinks that *I* would have fancied the *writer*-- as though *I* were like *HER, herself*!!!.... And how annoying it is, when that 70s speech of hers seeps into our life today-- 'Close the door, Teddy.... We're negotiating cold air.'}

{*laughs*}

{But anyway, she's almost like Atticus Finch.... *or Patrick Stewart*.... hero-as-caricature, you know? Unconscious caricature, I mean!}

{*laughs*}

[Seriously, though....

Some people are always stepping into--or perhaps *backing into*-- the future, facing the other way.

But there comes a time when you have to just....

Turn around.]

.......

Because nobody's ever made this movie before, because I'm Rip Van Winkle-- I've been asleep for twenty years.

And I never read about Atticus Finch, because I have a vendetta against my elementary school librarian lady.

And no one has ever done this before, and I'm so original, and I'm the hero, and I don't have to do anything to be the hero except to get weird with people when they try to talk to me, and it will go on for twenty hours, because I can do whatever I want, because I'm the hypocrite....

And just to prove I'm the hypocrite, I'll....

*gets bitter* What, can't I dream?

*stamps foot* I am the hypocrite!

*storms out*

(7/10)

Really really enjoyed it. It doesn't have the most original story but it is told in a very intimate and particular way. I bought it, loved al the characters and loved to hate Bryce Dallas Howard.

Viola Davis, Octavia Spencer and specially Jessica Chastain gave me a lot of joy! :)

The reconstruction of the atmosphere and of the objects, furnitures, dresses, etc. of the beginning of Sixties is philological and looks perfect. Same for the great actresses, who are all very convincing and deep in their role. But the movie is sometimes rhetorical and some scenes are made more to capture the emotions and the feelings of the watchers, than for their importance. Other small detail: the film is too long.. However its message is still very actual, and "helps" to make people aware about the theme of racism and discrimination.

Okay, so The Help is in many ways like The Descendants (one of its award adversaries of 2011) where it can be easily identified as another Oscar buzz, so to speak, due to the repetitive theme of the dialogue but nevertheless meaningful nature and its colourful and easy-going backgrounds. However, there are quite a number of hit and miss aspects that reside within The Help where certain techniques saved it, but in others made it an overrated disappointment. So, on the positive side of things, The Help manages to be a 50% success due to the absolutely outstanding acting from its ensemble cast (particularly Davis and Spencer), but the other 50% suffers from its rather severe flaws.


When observing racism as a theme of cinema, there’s quite a wide range of stories to put together about it particularly involving violence, slavery, politics and fighting for equal rights. In The Help’s case, it adds all four of those examples but where it really suffers is that it’s needlessly over-long in its running time where it gradually got very boring got us almost completely lost. Plus, consisting of the depressing theme and the emotional characters, The Help was too colourful and looked rather light-hearted when there is almost nothing friendly, lively nor funny about this film at all. So, in that sense, that’s where it went a bit wrong and should have been darker in tone to match with the subject represented.


Tate Taylor takes the role of both director and screenwriter of this adaptation from the novel by close friend, Kathryn Stockett. With not many films under his belt, The Help became his most vital film to date but unfortunately, the film wasn’t as impressive to watch as expected. It is filmed in a similar documentary style seeing as it analyses the thought-provoking tension regarding racism that we regularly see in everyday life. Taylor’s script of The Help has its ups and downs. The segments involving the narrations were pretty good, but as already stated, it goes overboard with repetitive scenes that just continues and doesn’t always get anywhere.


Despite the film does have its hard-hitting flaws, the performances from the ensemble cast (pretty much all female) are all absolutely outstanding! After her mesmerizing performances in most recent years, Emma Stone gives another grand performance in her role as Eugenia “Skeeter” Phelan. Stone has frequently been seen as portraying drop-dead gorgeous and darkly sexy characters, but we see a nerdy and more emotional side to her. Viola Davis immediately received critical acclaim for her role as Aibileen Clark and now after seeing it, no wonder! Davis expresses a depressed and emotionally broken-down woman by showing a lot of vulnerability, anger and pain, but also honour and loyalty which showed her nice and sensitive side. So, by this jumble of different emotional aspects portraying a character, she does deserve the credit she gets, including a well-deserved Academy Award nomination. In addition to Viola’s outstanding role, Octavia Spencer gives an even stronger performance as Minny Jackson, who renovates the humour, emotional concepts and physical features of Hattie McDaniel in her Oscar winning performance as Mammy in Gone With The Wind. Spencer is all but guaranteed to receive the 84th Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress! Bryce Dallas Howard, Jessica Chastain and Allison make fine appearances in the film too with good performances.


Overall, The Help is something that goes out of hand and is totally misused in many ways due to the backgrounds within the story and the needlessly continuous story. It is perhaps the most overrated film of 2011 but the performances from the actors (especially Davis and Spencer) make this film suitable enough to call a film worthy of a few Oscars. So, apart from the occasionally empty story, The Help is perhaps still worth seeing purely for the acting.

The Help belongs among the Oscar-considered films that normally arrive in the fall. The fact that the film is in theaters now during the heat of summer? Consider it a gift from Walt Disney Studios.
The Help is based on the beloved novel by Kathryn Stockett. And while Hollywood’s history of turning the page-to-screen experience into something blissful is spotty at best, director Tate Taylor’s film is sure to meet The Help’s passionate literary legion's expectations - and exceed them.
Emma Stone is Eugenia “Skeeter” Phelan. The child of the late 1950s has become an adult in the 1960s. Growing up in Jackson, Mississippi, she has seen her share of racial injustice. The story at the heart of The Help concerns Skeeter’s capturing the life story of the maids who literally raise the children of Jackson and the picture painted is painful, powerful and penetrating in its depiction of the time’s racial divide.
The main characters are two maids played by Octavia Spencer (as Minny( and Viola Davis (as Aibileen). Both actresses rivet in their portrayals in different ways. The two are clearly close friends, bonded by neighborhood and necessity. But their friendship runs deep and only deepens as the two recount their lives for Skeeter. The real heroes of The Help are Minny and Aibileen. It is their story, along with the almost line-less cast of maids who may or may not come together to ensure Stone’s character has fully captured the essence of what it is like to be a repressed soul living in the civil rights hot spot of Jackson, Mississippi.
Emma Stone is a revelation as Skeeter, continuing her impressive full-on attack of Hollywood that began with her turn in Zombieland and has continued through Superbad, Easy A and Crazy, Stupid, Love.
The rest of The Help cast seems to know that they have a duty to deliver because of the quality of the material, but also its potential for achieving societal zeitgeist. Oscar winner Sissy Spacek sizzles as the mother of a downright devilish Bryce Dallas Howard. Howard triumphs in tackling a role that is unlike anything she has ever done before. Jessica Chastain is also one to watch, as Celia Foote. Her characterization captures the outsider omnipresence of the times that can send even the strongest into despair. She might as well be The Help in terms of how the Jackson social elite treat her.
The Help’s story does follow a stereotypical storytelling methodology of having the white person serve as the hero who inspires the African Americans to stand up for their rights. One can’t fault the film as the book is written as such, but in a bigger picture view of things, The Help movie has the benefit of educating a wide audience that equal rights has not always applied to all, as the Constitution states.
When Stone’s Skeeter visits Aibileen and begins the process of writing the novel they hope will alter their own community's way of treating one another, the film gets its legs.
The Help is easily the summer’s most astounding movie. It will unequivocally be included in Movie Fanatic's Top 10 of 2011. Some have questioned its landing in the summer blockbuster season and how it may get lost amongst the hits of the warmer months. We are of the belief that, no matter the situation, talent rises.
The Help will find its audience, and each soul that takes in the fantastic film’s foray into America’s racial divide of the 1960s can count on leaving the cinema changed in the most beautiful of ways.


by Movie Fanatic

One of the best films I have seen recently. A really hard story where you can not understand how life looked like in those US south countries in those days.