Movie Review - "The Help" (2011) ****1/2

     I didn't know too much about The Help coming into my viewing of it. It wasn't on my radar when it started playing early in 2011, and if it had not been nominated for Best Picture I doubt I would have seen it anytime in the near future. It just reeked of the prototypical "chick flick". I knew that it was about the relationship between southern white ladies and their black maids in the civil rights era south, but the ads seemed to show it more as a comedy rather than a drama and that is what shied me away from it. Then the awards season came along and The Help was getting a lot of recognition, especially in the Best Actress and Supporting Actress categories for Viola Davis, Octavia Spencer and Jessica Chastain. When it became apparent that it was going to get a Best Picture nomination, I was still skeptical but decided to approach it with an open mind. Did that ever turn out to be a good idea, as this is one of the more emotional stories that I have seen in a long time, and it is well-worthy of the praise it has been getting.

    The movie stars Emma Stone as Skeeter Phelan, a southern society girl who has just finished school at Ole Miss and has returned home with hopes of becoming a writer. She gets a job at the local newspaper writing a self-help cleaning column but her real desire is to write books. Aibileen (Viola Davis) and Minny (Octavia Spencer) are two black maids who work with separate families that are friends of Skeeter's. Skeeter realizes how important a role these ladies play in the development of children of white families, yet they get treated with disrespect in a time where separation of whites and blacks is still the norm. One of Skeeter's friends, Hilly Holbrook (Bryce Dallas Howard), so despises blacks that she will not let Minny use the bathroom in her house because of the diseases she thinks black people carry. Another friend, Elizabeth Leefolt (Ahna O'Reilly), has a separate small bathroom built attached to her house so Aibileen can use the toilet there in the sweltering heat and not spread her germs.

     Skeeter does not agree with the way her friends treat the help. She remembers how important her families maid, Constantine (Cicely Tyson), was in her upbringing. Skeeter was raised more by Constantine rather than her own mother, Charlotte (Allison Janney). Because of this prejudice, Skeeter seeks out to write a book called "The Help" to tell the side of the story of the maids. Skeptical at first, Aibileen eventually opens up to Skeeter and encourages Minny to do so as well. These three ladies form a unique sisterhood and it isn't long before many maids are willing to open up about the injustices they have experienced. The ladies know that these stories will eventually put them all at risk, but difficult times breed courage and this group is as courageous as they come.

     The Help is written and directed by relative newcomer Tate Taylor, who only has one other directing feature to his credit, but he has worked as an actor previously, including a small role in the under-the-radar gem Winter's Bone, which earned a Best Picture nomination last year. I was very surprised to see that such an unproven director spit out work of this magnitude. He obviously has a lot of talent and just needed the right opportunity. He is also responsible for a wonderful script, based on the book of the same name by author Kathryn Stockett. The dialogue is top notch and Taylor has adapted a wonderful screenplay here that any writer would be proud to have on their resume. As good as Taylor is on this film, this is an actresses movie, featuring several stunning performances from a primarily female cast. Davis, Spencer and Chastain are all worthy of the praise they have been receiving and could find themselves standing tall on Oscar night. But why no love for Emma Stone in the leading role?? That was an oversight. The beautiful Stone is an absolute delight in her role as Skeeter, and she has established her self as one of best young leading ladies going these days. The Help is full of emotion and one of the true joys of the 2011 movie year. Superb acting and film-making combined to create a heartwarming tale of a group of women who face adversity but eventually stand up to it, giving them the ultimate freedom that they desire.