The Help is a wonderful story of a young woman who decides to write the story from the help's perspective during the civil rights movement in the 1960s Mississippi.
Before seeing it, I heard some great things about the cast, but that's it; most of male bloggers didn't particularly enjoyed. After the two and a half hours, I can understand it, as it has a more feminist aproach to it.As you can imagine, I loved the movie; I thought it had everything: amazing performances, beautiful sets and costumes, entertaining story, but with an emotional aspect to it, and a great ending.
The female characters are very well built and the performances are just spectacular, especially Viola Davis as Aibileen and Bryce Dallas Howard as Hilly Holbrook- they were the two standouts for me, who carried out this sad, but true story, in a beautiful, affectionate, yet powerful way. Emma Stone has a slightly different role then usual, but she delivers; Jessica Chastain as Celia Foote is a pleasant surprise and Octavia Spencer as Minny Jackson is adorable and she will probably receive a Supporting actress nomination.
The movie is not action oriented, it does not have a fast pace- what you get is an analysis of this particular situation in Mississippi; you see and understand what was it like for coloured women in the 1960s to work in an environment full of people like Hilly Hilbrook. You will encounter sad stories, you will have your share of fun (Minny's famous pie), even some romance (hello, Chris Lowell), and you will love the characters.
It had a little bit of everything and I thoroughly enjoyed it! The ladies will love it, the men...well, I guess they can appreciate the performances! You should check it out- I think the Golden Globes&co will hand out some nominations for it!
Again, sweet film with some great performances, but I did not like it as much as everyone else did and I do not get the BP Oscar buzz it is getting. It'll be like The King's Speech all over again, except TKS actually deserved to be nominated.
ReplyDeleteI can see The Help becoming one of those films which I didn't mind but end up disliking because of everyone else's love for it. Boo.
I think it's getting the Oscar buzz just for the performances, nothing else. Viola Davis really was great and I love Jessica Chastain and Bryce Dallas Howard!
ReplyDeleteWe missed this one the MANY MANY pre screenings. The projector broke in the cinema...grrr
ReplyDeleteI am gutted actually, as it looks ace!!
Nicely done my friend
I didn't feel that wowed about it. The performances were great though. I guess that sums up what you said in your review though. Nice review.
ReplyDeleteThanks Max! It is a nice movie, but, like I said, it might not appeal to everyone!
ReplyDeleteI am glad that you liked it, but I personally thought it was merely a Hallmark Movie of the Week. Aside from a handful of performances, I don't understand the hype surrounding it at all.
ReplyDeleteI feel like it could've been a lot more, a lot better, than it was. But again, I'm glad you enjoyed it.
Oh Alex, you are sometimes too kind! It's ok if you thought it was a Hallmark Movie(funny, btw)
ReplyDeleteLike I said, I know it might appeal more to female then male, so I can understand why you didn't understand it! Women can be so easily convinced sometimes :)
"too kind" ha. I like that one.
ReplyDeleteOkay, I thought the movie blew. Better?
I thought it was good, but not great. It didn't really break any new ground with the story. I was expecting it to be preachy and it wasn't, so that was a plus.
ReplyDelete@Chip Lary: I think it did break new grounds, I mean this side of the story was never really told, or, at least, not too many times. I liked it, but as I said, men will not enjoy it as much!
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