Quick Movie Review: The Help (2011)

The Help (2011)

Bottomline: Decent film but book is much better.

Where Can I See This Film? It’s available for rent on DVD.

If The Book Is So Much Better Than The Film, Then Why Watch It? Good question. I’ll give you a two-word answer: Viola Davis.

What Are Some Other Movies Where I Can See Viola Davis (born: 1965)? I’ll give you three to consider: Solaris (2002), Doubt (2008) [she was in the movie for about 20 minutes and was nominated for an Academy Award], and It’s Kind of a Funny Story (2010).

Interesting Note #1: In speaking with some adults who were young adults during the era in which this film was set, I found them defensive. “The movie is exaggerated and untrue.” “I certainly never saw anything like that happen.” The comments underscore the actual truth of the premise of both the film and the book – we all know it’s true how "the help" were treated, but it’s a difficult truth to face.

Interesting Note #2: I was particularly pleased when speaking with my own children about the film. They are aged 18 and 14 and they had a lot of questions because the treatment of the maids as illustrated in the film was so foreign to them. The idea of “separate but equal” has been discussed in classrooms, of course, but seeing it in practice on screen leads to a sense of confusion as to why anyone would ever think that this was a good idea. “Dad, did someone like Hilly really exist?” The answer? Unfortunately, yes.

QMR Opinion:
Let’s start with the good news. The good news for The Help can be summed up in two words – Viola Davis. My goodness, the woman is a marvel on screen. This role requires her to be in pain, to be acquiescent, to be angry, and to be restrained – all at the same time without speaking most of the time. She does it with her face. Her glances. Her tone of voice. It is a master class on acting and it’s not the first time Viola Davis has blown me away with her screen presence. There are others that are good – Bryce Dallas Howard as Hilly, Jessica Chastain as Celia, Allison Janney as Mrs. Phelan come to mind. And, yes, I’ve heard and read the accolades for Octavia Spencer as Minny, but, I have to be honest, her portrayal of Minny was strong but bordered, at times, on camp. One of the dumbest scenes in the movie takes place when Mr. Johnny (Celia’s husband) drives up and finds Minny walking to the house. She takes off running and then threatens him with a stick. It’s ridiculous. And it certainly didn’t happen that way in the book. This seems like a good segue to the bad news. The bad news can be summed up in three words – Read the book. It is clear early in the movie that there was a lot of film left on the cutting room floor. The early scenes are choppy and uneven – scenes shift quickly with no transition and, at times, make no sense. And I’ll say it out loud: I didn’t think Emma Stone was right for the part of Skeeter and her performance only affirms my earlier thinking. She is just not right for the role. Yes, her hair is messed up, but it is still Emma Stone. Great actress (see: Zombieland (2009)) but just not right as Skeeter. And where are all the men? They play crucial roles in the book and are practically kept in the shadows in the film. And, yes, I understand that the film cannot contain everything that’s in the book, but the way they handle some of it in the film is amateurish – using toss away lines as a means to convey some huge plot point from the book that was too complicated to work into the film. My opinion? Just leave it out. The way the filmmakers handled Constantine’s dilemma (played brilliantly by Cicely Tyson) is tragic. And the end. . .my goodness. . .the end. I thought the ending of the book was too neat and clean, but the movie takes it to a whole new level of classic “Hollywood” clean-cut ending. After playing such an important role in the film, Minny’s ending is reduced to a scene and a line or two. Skeeter protests her destiny but is quickly talked into it. Hilly gets her expected come-uppance. The best finale is, of course, Aibileen as portrayed by Davis. The final scenes with her in the Leefolt’s home confronting Hilly and then on the sidewalk as Mae Mobley cries after her are heartbreaking. The most disappointing aspect of the movie is that it could have been and should have been much better.