The Help

The Help: The best novel adaptation in a loooong time.
"Oscar season", as it's typically referred to, is a period of time, usually beginning in late November, and ending in late January. This year, it starts early, with "The Help".

"The Help" is based on the well-known novel by Kathryn Stockett, someone who I had never heard of before discovering this film and book. For the most part, when I hear about a film that I want to see, I try to read the book prior to viewing the movie, to enhance the whole experience. Usually I get bored, or stop mid-way through one of these said books, before I end up watching the movie.

But "The Help" grabbed me. Stockett kept me on a leash, dying to know what happened next, and I ended up finishing its 530 pages in a few sittings. And, I'm glad it did, because "The Help" is not only the best movie I've seen this summer, but it very well could be the best one I see all year.

The film centers on Aibileen, Skeeter and Minny (Davis, Stone and Spencer, respectively) three very...

Not the movie you think it is
"The Help" works as well as it does because it doesn't offer easy answers. This lovely and sometimes extraordinary film is not concerned with big sermons about clivil rights, religion or easy to swallow messages. The film is simply about behavior; how we should act, morally, towards other people, no matter who they might be. This thematic line is structured nicely throughout the film by zeroing in on a select group of people. This was a smart move since the backdrop of the Civil Rights movement in the 1960s is just too large a subject to truly flesh out in a 2 hour film. Because the film is about actual characters instead of predisposed, prepackaged lessons, the audience can take with them what they choose from the story (none of the characters have a major epiphany, each just starts to become aware of their behavior and effects, both good and bad- they all have so much more life to live). Surprisingly the film rarely gets melodramatic, and when it does it almost seems cheep and easy...

Hot Humid Sensual South & an Oscar brews faster than sweet iced-tea
Now we see this film wins award nominations aplenty. Biggest winner was the public. Leads of Davis and Spencer that stole the spotlight. DVD to own, not rent.
The only drawback with the DVD is the sparse bonus material. 4 min. of 2 deleted, and a 5 min. music video of one of the film's songs. Pathetically weak bonus, but then it is a 5.5 star film. Everyone asks to borrow our copy, I should have bought 2.
Oh yes, there are SUBTITLES.

We attended the opening matinee; we'll view it again, that good. Is `The Help' the soul of 60s era race relations? This worthy film based on Kathryn Stockett's #1 best-seller is equally a first-class view as true for the read. The story of 3 daring Mississippi women is as absorbing as any you'll see this year. The plot is writing a book which attempts to tell the truth about B/W relations in the city of Jackson, between wealthy whites and `the help'; but doing it anonymously. Without being fired or lynched.

There is humor...

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