Movie Review: "The Help"

Let me give you a brief synopsis of my movie-going experiences in recent history.  During the summer of 2008, Steve and I went to see "The Dark Knight".  Loved it then, love it now.  It was a most excellent choice for movie theater viewing.  In July 2009, we went to see that movie with Maya Rudolph and Jim from "The Office".  I can't remember the name of the movie, but Maya was pregnant in it.  I think they were looking for a home, and I know they used the F-word a lot.  We agreed that it wasn't such a great movie.

And that was the last time I saw a movie in the theater.  No joke.

I love going to the movies, but there's every excuse not to go: it's too expensive, there's nothing we really have to see, what we do want to see is out of the theater before we make it there, we might as well just wait for On Demand ... I could go on and on. For the first time in a long time (obviously), there is a movie in the theaters that I feel I just have to see; waiting for On Demand simply won't do. I'm talking, of course, about "The Help". I mentioned this historical fiction treasure in a post in July 2009 after my book club read it, and before it became the sensation it is today. We have all been anxiously awaiting the movie version for quite some time.  I was excited to see Bryce Dallas Howard as nasty Hilly, the author's cameo as a Junior League member, and to determine whether the movie version was true to the very book that still, after two years, continues to top my list.  And I was also excited to finally use the AMC gift card I'd been carrying around in my wallet for a year and a half. 

We ran into a little snag when we arrived at the theater for the 9:35 am show this morning: the power was out.  The initial plan was to begin the movie whenever they could get the power up and running, but after standing around (outside, in the first rain we've had in months) for about thirty minutes, it was announced that the first showing of all movies would be cancelled for the day.  The staff then handed out vouchers and sent us on our way.  We returned for a 5:30 pm showing, free tickets in hand.

It really goes without saying that the movie was excellent; spot-on.  Of course Hollywood can never fully portray every detail that can be written in a book, but this one got pretty darn close.  Emma Stone was a perfect Skeeter; she came across completely natural and genuine.  And although the movie includes a pretty extensive list of big names, Viola Davis (Tony Award winner) absolutely stole the show as Aibileen, one of the help.  The characters were just as I believed they would be after reading the book, and the story was absolutely as engaging and heart-wrenching on the big screen as it was on the pages: Skeeter, arriving home from college and determined to become a writer, is the first in her hometown of Jackson, Mississippi to question the "rules" that govern the lives of the area socialites and, as a result, their help.  During the turbulent 1960s, Skeeter sets out to give the help a voice.  As Aibileen says, "No one never asked me what it's like to be me."  Skeeter asks difficult questions, knowing that the help may not want to answer and that their white employers may not want to hear the answers.  The truth can hurt, but as Skeeter and the help realize, truth may be the only path to freedom.  And a little truth can turn a lot of heads; there's nothing worse than ignorance. 

"The Help" is just an incredible story.  You'll cry through the book, and you'll cry even more as you see it come to life in the theater.  Read the book first (seeing the movie without it would be an injustice), and then head to the theater.  If you time it right, you might just arrive at the theater during a power outage and earn yourself a free ticket.  But since that's pretty unlikely, I can safely say you won't regret your investment in this film.  The story will stay with you long after you've forgotten about your seven dollars.