zaterdag 4 februari 2012

Movie Tip # 51: The Help

Director: Tate Taylor

Starring: Emma Stone, Viola Davis, Octavia Spencer, Bruce Dallas Howard, Mike Vogel, Jessica Chastain, Allison Janney, Mary Steenburgen, Chris Lowell, Sissy Spacek, Ahna O'Reilly

Description: Set in Mississippi during the 1960s, Skeeter (Emma Stone) is a southern society girl who returns from college determined to become a writer, but turns her friends' lives - and a Mississippi town - upside down when she decides to interview the black women who have spent their lives taking care of prominent southern families. Aibileen (Viola Davis), Skeeter's best friend's housekeeper, is the first to open up - to the dismay of her friends in the tight-knit black community. Despite Skeeter's life-long friendships hanging in the balance, she and Aibileen continue their collaboration and soon more women come forward to tell their stories - and as it turns out, they have a lot to say. Along the way, unlikely friendships are forged and a new sisterhood emerges, but not before everyone in town has a thing or two to say themselves when they become unwittingly - and unwillingly - caught up in the changing times.

Review: Kathryn Stockett touched quite a few people in their heart with her novel "The Help". After studying in New York for a couple of years, Skeeter is surprised to see how her high school friends are all married and play the suburban houswewive and keeping up appearances. She's even more surprised when she finds out that the maid that worked for her family for 29 years is gone all of a sudden. She decides to write a book from the viewpoint of the black nannies and gets the embittered Aibileen and her sas mouthed friend Minny for her story. Eventhough "The Help" is a very emotional story, it's also a real feel-good movie. It's a story close to reality, but both Stockett and director Tate Taylor thicken it a bit. Like the characters Skeeter and Hilly, very stereotypical, but Emma Stone and Bryce Dallas Howard are actresses who can make those one-dimensional characters come to life. The best roles are for Viola Davis and Octavia Spencer, one demure the other very outspoken. Also Jessica Chastain surprises with her role of Celia Foote, the somewhat naive woman who looks past the skin colors but has her own problems. "The Help" has such a strong female cast, great sentimental moments and also a bit of humor. Fantastic film.

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