The Help Review

Okay, so I know this is already in Redbox...but it was a phenomenal story, so I couldn't bear not writing about it.


To start with, let me say that I am an enormous Emma Stone fan, so I went into the viewing experience with high hopes, which were indeed met.


Stone plays an aspiring writer, Skeeter, returned from college and living in a Mississippi town---smack-dab in the middle of when the Civil Rights movement was taking place.  


The film focuses on the mission Skeeter goes on in order to write a book from the point of view of the help (which in that day and age were all African American citizens in the South).


The help is made up of a truly extraordinary cast!  I'm not just saying it because Octavia Spencer, who plays the housekeeper, Mini, recently got some majorly deserved recognition at the Golden Globes on Sunday.


In addition, I thought that Viola Davis really deserved some big awards for her role as the maid and nanny known as Aibileen Clark, who has raised 17 children over her career in Jacksonville, Mississippi. (Also, her fantastic voice narrates the film and really helps the viewer experience the real story.)


To go into further detail about Aibileen, she and Mini are really the central maids that Skeeter focuses on when she initially starts writing her book.  Skeeter learns all the ups and (mostly) downs of what it is like to be the typical maid/nanny/housekeeper in the South.  


Now, one cannot discuss this movie without mentioning the mega-antagonist: Hilly Holbrook, who has decided recently that it is basically her mission from God to enforce the Home Help Sanitation Initiative. Hilly is the devil in disguise, to quote Elvis and give my opinion all at the same time.  One could almost say, "Raise your hand if you've ever been personally victimized by Hilly Holbrook." (Yes, that was a reference to Mean Girls' Regina George: "and evil takes human form in..."  I am proud right now.)


Like any movie with someone so catty and evil, there will almost always be the much needed revenge scene...in this case, I am absolutely thinking of Miss Mini's pie!  (I won't spoil it for anyone who hasn't seen it, but it is a part that will really will stick with you if you have!)


Hilly's mother is played by the amazing Sissy Spacek! She has quite a great time rubbing her daughter's face in all the wrong Hilly has done and does it with an awesome performance.  


Finally, this post wouldn't be complete without mentioning the performances of Skeeter's mom (played by Allison Janney...yep, Juno's stepmom), Miss Celia Foote (Jessica Chastain), and the ever-handsome Stewart Whitworth...Skeeter's boyfriend for the later half of the movie (played by Chris Lowell)!


They all give performances that I wouldn't want to spoil for you!  They really round out the movie and make it worth your while.


I really encourage anyone who hasn't seen this film to watch it a soon a possible...and anyone who has and liked it...to watch it again!






For more information on the movie, please visit: IMDb-The Help (2011)










Thanks for reading!