Movie Review: The Help

So full disclosure, I liked it. I like the movie and the book. I know all about the racial issues when reading/watching a book/film about race relations and domestic labor when written by a white person from the point of view of an ethnic minority. That being said, it is fiction and thus not true to life so there is no reason to disclose the race/gender/income of the author. When writing non-fiction full disclosure is necessary.

So the movie left out a few things pretty relevant to the plot and evolution of the book. One of the main things that stuck out to me was Skeeter's inspiration for writing the novel The Help. In the movie, Skeeter comes to this all on her own, but in the book she gets the idea from Aibileen's story about her son's own work about African America blue collar work. Another short coming, was the political undertones. In the book they were more evident, which is a benefit of fiction opposed to film. The author can tell you what is happening and what the characters are feeling, but in the film the director has to show you. If the viewer doesn't have a background or is young they may not get it.

Finally, the good. Casting. It was awesome. I'm not sold on giving a pretty girl glasses and frizzy hair the calling her ugly. I have straight hair, but if I took off my glasses I wouldn't be Tina Fey or Emma Stone. But Sissy Spacek, Allison Janney, and Cicely Tyson are all amazing. The dialogue felt a little punchier, and the flow worked really well.

All that said, the best part was watching this in a crowded theater with commentary. I'm serious, the elderly African American woman sitting next to me was ridiculous. Between talking about the soundtrack, the cars, and then general comments about plot. I was laughing the whole time.

I'm giving it a 5/5.