The Help (2011)

[5]

An aspiring writer decides to tell the stories of African-American maids during the turbulent ’60s, risking community scorn to publish the truth. The Help, based on the novel by Kathryn Stockett, weaves the stories of several black and white women in Jackson, Mississippi. Emma Stone plays the writer, with Viola Davis playing her first interview subject, a woman who recently buried her young adult son. Octavia Spencer won the Best Supporting Actress Oscar for her portrayal of a volatile maid who clashes with her employers, even though her family is desperate for the money.

The Help is not an anthem movie or a social cause piece. It’s more of a female bonding movie that uses the civil rights movement as a backdrop. A lot has happened in America since the film was released, including the ‘black lives matter’ movement and red-state roll-backs in voting rights. If you’re looking for a film that takes these critical issues as seriously as possible, you might be disappointed. The Help plays with the bigger issues once or twice, but never fully breaks the mold of a formulaic romantic comedy.

I enjoyed watching the cast work. Stone, Davis, and Spencer have some engaging, intimate scenes together. Spencer also has a meaty subplot involving her secretive employment for the town’s social outcast, played by Jessica Chastain. Sissy Spacek, Cicely Tyson, and Allison Janney are put to good use in memorable supporting roles. But the tone of the movie never sits quite right with me. Not to pick on her, because I consider myself a fan, but Bryce Dallas Howard’s character seems to embody my qualms with the movie. She plays a comically racist woman whose scenes always toss the tone up in the air, usually landing somewhere between comic fantasy and all-too dramatic reality. Written for the screen and directed by Tate Taylor.

With Chris Lowell, Aunjanue Ellis, and Ahna O’Reilly.

Academy Award: Best Supporting Actress (Octavia Spencer)

Oscar Nominations: Best Picture, Actress (Viola Davis), Supporting Actress (Jessica Chastain)