Movie review: The Help
Loved the book, loved the movie. And you don't necessarily have to have read the book to like the movie (according to my niece, who was in that boat).
If you are among the few who haven't read The Help, the basic premise is that a white writer convinces black maids in Mississippi in the early 1960s to share their stories, which she compiles into a book. The maids who participated knew how dangerous it was but did it anyway because they really wanted their stories to be heard.
The cast is wonderful, even in the smaller roles such as those played by Sissy Spacek and Cicely Tyson. Viola Davis, whose character Aibileen narrates the movie, justly deserves all the praise she's getting. I also thought the little girl who plays Aibileen's charge, Mae Mobley, was very good--her last scene with Aibileen is heartbreaking. But to me the true standout was Octavia Spencer's portrayal of the feisty Minnie. She plays frightened, sassy, angry and funny equally well. And your eye is just drawn to her in every scene she appears in.
If you are among the few who haven't read The Help, the basic premise is that a white writer convinces black maids in Mississippi in the early 1960s to share their stories, which she compiles into a book. The maids who participated knew how dangerous it was but did it anyway because they really wanted their stories to be heard.
The cast is wonderful, even in the smaller roles such as those played by Sissy Spacek and Cicely Tyson. Viola Davis, whose character Aibileen narrates the movie, justly deserves all the praise she's getting. I also thought the little girl who plays Aibileen's charge, Mae Mobley, was very good--her last scene with Aibileen is heartbreaking. But to me the true standout was Octavia Spencer's portrayal of the feisty Minnie. She plays frightened, sassy, angry and funny equally well. And your eye is just drawn to her in every scene she appears in.
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