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The Help poster

CAST
VIOLA DAVIS
OCTAVIA SPENCER
EMMA STONE
ANNA CAMP
JESSICA CHASTAIN
BRYCE DALLS HOWARD
ALLISON JANNEY
CHRIS LOWELL
AHNA O’REILLY
SISSY SPACEK
MARY STEENBURGEN
CICELY TYSON
MIKE VOGEL

BASED ON THE NOVEL BY
KATHRYN STOCKETT

SCREENPLAY BY
TATE TAYLOR

PRODUCED BY
MICHAEL BARNATHAN
CHRIS COLUMBUS
BRUNSON GREEN

DIRECTED BY
TATE TAYLOR

GENRE
AUS: M
UK: NA
USA: PG-13

RUNNING TIME
137 MIN

 

THE HELP (2011)

Part moving drama, part sappy tale of female camaraderie, The Help is an overall entertaining morality play buoyed by a well acted ensemble cast featuring a ferocious Bryce Dallas Howard.

Familiar territory is tread here, but it is given anew spark. There are better films about racism in the south (In the Heat of the Night, Mississippi Burning), yet none have taken on the woman’s perspective. Until now.

Based on the feel-good and somewhat controversial best seller by Kathryn Stockett, The Help focuses on two groups of women: the rich white wives of Jackson, Mississippi, and the poor black maids who serve them and their families.

Thrown into the mix is Eugenia ‘Skeeter’ Phelan (Emma Stone), a college graduate who returns to Jackson only to find that the racial segregation has reached new lows: now the maids can’t even use their employer’s toilets because of their supposed “impurities”.

Leading the charge for this “sanitation initiative” is Hilly (Bryce Dallas Howard), a nasty piece of work and leader of Jackson wives who wield social and political power. Humiliation and bigotry is their sport, and in the fields of racism and classism they are the world champs.

Skeeter wants none of it. Using her new found feminist wills (no hubby and children for this fiery red head), and ambition to become a journalist, Skeeter proceeds to write a book from the perspective of the “help”.

Yet finding volunteers is not an easy task, especially when repercussion could be the loss of employment and even violence. Courageously coming forward is Aibileen (Viola Davis) and the sass talking Minny (Octavia Spencer). The lay out the fear, humiliation and sadness given by their employers, while also speaking of the joys of their work, namely raising a generation of children who sadly will probably grow into racists themselves.

Of the two characters, Aibileen is the more interesting. Distressed with the madness around her, she is quietly driven by the social justice of Christian doctrine and defies the boundaries placed upon her, Davis plays the role with powerful restraint, reminding us that she is an incredible talent who has unfortunately been short changed since her Oscar nominated turn in Doubt.

Fine support comes from Sissy Spacek, Alison Janney, and especially Jessica Chastain as a ditzy blonde trailer trash who pines for a place within the Jackson wives hierarchy.

But The Help belongs firmly in the hands of Bryce Dallas Howard, stealing scenes from lead actress Emma Stone and creating a despicably unpleasant yet wholly watchable southern monster without conscious or soul, hiding behind a facade of grace and elegance. When Davis calls Howard a “Godless woman”, it is an apt description.

Adapted to the screen and directed by Tate Taylor, The Help achieves its goals as a not so tough, not so soft exploration of a time where ownership of human beings was determined by the colour of your skin.

Yes, at 137 minutes it is a tad long. Yes, it can border on stereotype (having a character proclaim “I do love me some fried chicken” doesn’t help). And yes, it can be unbearably sappy.

Yet there is a fire within these characters which will warm the coldest of cynics, portrayed by one of the better ensemble casts thus far this year.

***1/2

 

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