'The Help' Movie Review

'The Help' Movie Review, Written by: Karen Benardello

Directed by: Tate Taylor

Starring: Emma Stone, Bryce Dallas Howard, Viola Davis, Octavia Spencer (TV’s ‘Ugly Betty’), Allison Janney, Jessica Chastain (‘The Tree of Life’)


Making a memorable movie that primarily focuses on controversial issues, is based on a successful novel or is directed and written by a newer filmmaker is often hard to accomplish. But making a film that features all three, much like the new comedy-drama ‘The Help,’ is very unusual. The movie, which primarily focuses on the struggles African-Americans faced in the south during the 1960s, is a rare exception. Helmed and scripted by relative newcomer Tate Taylor, who adapted Kathryn Stockett’s hit 2009 novel of the same name, ‘The Help’ certainly leaves viewers wanting to stand up for what’s right.

‘The Help’ chronicles the unlikely interaction between two African-American maids, Aibileen Clark (played by Viola Davis) and Minny Jackson (portrayed by Octavia Spencer), and a young, upper-class white woman, Eugenia “Skeeter” Phelan (played by Emma Stone), in early-1960s Mississippi. Skeeter returns to her hometown of Jackson after graduating from the University of Mississippi, determined to make a name for herself in the literary world. Upset by how her peers, including Hilly Holbrook (portrayed by Bruce Dallas Howard) and Elizabeth Leefolt (played by Ahna O’Reilly), treat Minny, Aibileen and the rest of the maids, Skeeter secretly writes a book about life from the prospective of “the help.”

DreamWorks Pictures made a wise decision in hiring Taylor to write and direct the film. Taylor was able to effectively capture Stockett’s important theme that Skeeter stood for her beliefs; she didn’t give in to Hilly, Elizabeth and even her mother Charlotte’s (portrayed by Allison Janney) insistence that their maids weren’t worthy of the same rights they received. ‘The Help’ also proves that people don’t have to come from the same background to stand up for what’s right. Skeeter was perfectly happy to give up her place in white society, if it meant she could expose the injustices the African-American community was experiencing.

Stone, who has become known for her comedic roles in such films as ‘Easy A,’ ‘Zombieland’ and ‘Crazy, Stupid, Love,’ gave a memorable performance as Skeeter in ‘The Help.’ She proved her versatility as an actress in the film’s dramatic scenes, showing she was truly sympathetic to the maids’ struggle for equality. Stone didn’t just use the material Taylor provided for her in the script; she drew on her own willpower to prove Skeeter wanted to stand up for what’s right.


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