Wick's Review

Summary - Very Good 3.5

Women rule The Help. They rule the Junior League, they rule their roosts and they rule each other. Some are white and privileged, most of whom behave in ugly ways. Others are black and disenfranchised. Their world seems far away, yet existed a mere 50 years ago in the Jim Crow South.

Viewed from 21st Century America, their conflicts make for a somewhat shocking, often moving and occasionally funny movie. That last reduces the movie’s gravitas while upping its entertainment value.

Still, The Help often transfixes with its intimate portrayal of quotidian racism. The sit-ins, church bombings and murders that defined the period are notable by their absence. The Help instead peers into kitchens, nurseries and parties to shine a light on the last vestiges of institutionalized Southern racism.

The Help’s female focus and comic relief make it more of a chick flick or date movie than a landmark must-see. Despite that faint praise, guys along for the ride won’t regret seeing this very good movie.

Acting - Very Good 3.5

Viola Davis & Bryce Dallas Howard deliver powerhouse performances, the former as a noble domestic worker, the latter as a despicable young matron. Davis proved in Doubt that she’s an actress of uncommon depth, receiving an Oscar nomination as a result. She deserves another, at the least. As for Ron Howard’s daughter, she well plays a hiss worthy villain.

Emma Stone holds her own as the writer around whom the story swirls, though she doesn’t jump off the screen as in Zombieland. Of course, she didn’t have to share the screen then with a dozen other actresses like she does here.

Other notables:

• Octavia Spencer impresses as a sassy domestic.
• Jessica Chastain seems more wacky than necessary and a bit labored affecting a Southern accent.
• Allison Janney – The West Wing’s C.J. Cregg – is always great, here as a flawed matron.
• Cicely Tyson plays the elderly domestic who is treated poorly by the writer’s family. Miss Tyson is one of our greatest actresses. It’s always a blessing to see her perform.
• Sissy Spacek entertainingly plays an older woman of considerable spunk.
• Mary Steenburgen gives saucy life to a NY publishing executive.

Film - Very Good 3.5

JFK-era Mississippi comes alive in all its chrome-plated glory and segregated shame.

Edge - Risqué 1.8

Institutional racism, as practiced in the Jim Crow South, was profane indeed.

Reality - Glib 1.1

Writing about another movie set in the distant South, I commented “that slavery was deeply personal in ways that are not just repugnant but ridiculous.” That was about Gone with the Wind. The Help elicited a similar reaction. Illicit interpersonal power is both repugnant and ridiculous.

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