It's Here!
Alright, this review is mainly for those of you who have read The Help and are looking forward to seeing it on screen and hoping against all hopes that Hollywood didn't mess this story up like usual. I'll let you know whether it's worth seeing in theaters or better saved for ClearPlay.
Jackson, Mississippi in the 1940's is a town where almost every woman is happily married, having babies and watching the help raise their children, clean their houses, cook their meals and do their grocery shopping. Skeeter Phelan (Emma Stone) is an awkward and aspiring young woman and writer who missed the marriage boat. She has begun to wonder what it must be like for the help to raise white babies only to watch those babies become their bosses. All while getting paid less than minimum wage. This is the story of how 3 brave women decided to tell their story in a town where their stories didn't want to be heard.
I've done the story line zero justice. This book was so powerful, beautifully written and superbly told. The movie comes pretty close to doing it justice though. Emma Stone wouldn't have been my first pick (but that's just cause she bugs me) but other than that the casting in this movie for every character is a dead bulls eye. All performances were absolutely top notch from Aibeleen (Viola Davis) to Hilly Hollbrook (Bryce Dallas Howard, love her!) to Celia Footer (Jessica Chastain) I simply couldn't complain about a single character. While there are of course a couple minor changes to minor scenes in the book the integrity of this story was kept very nicely intact. You'll laugh, you'll cry, you'll want to shout in glorious triumph to this lovely movie!
Motherly Advice: I'd keep you're little ones at home while you go out to this movie but for the adults it was pretty suitable. There are some instances of language (mostly coming from Skeeter's boss (Leslie Johnson) at the paper who sounds simply ridiculous while swearing). There is no sex, but due to Celia Foote's character of course, there is some tight fitting clothing for her and a bit of cleavage. Also a woman getting arrested is hit over the head with a police baton and while we don't see him hit her the sound was enough to make the entire audience in our theater gasp. There is a bloody scene where a woman has had a miscarriage in the bathroom but the blood is brief and the scene itself very tame. So when it comes out on DVD, ClearPlay will nicely trim out the language, the bloody miscarriage scene and the brutality of the arrest scene.
Danielle'- Bring Tissues, I Wish I Had!
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