A kind of history-light drama, this story of the unlikely friendship that develops between aspiring young white writer Skeeter (Emma Stone) and the black house maids of Jackson, Mississippi in the 1960's, presents an engaging and emotional look at the sharp divide between their worlds. While the spoiled and pampered white world of the Junior League is a bit on the cardboard cut-out side, the portraits of the two principal subjects of Jeeter's book, Abileen (Viola Davis) and Minny (Octavia Spencer) emerge powerfully in two incandescent performances. Supporting performances from a host of strong actors, including Sissy Spacek, Bryce Dallas Howard, Mary Steenburgen, and Cicely Tyson (who no longer needs lots of make-up to look as old as Miss Jane Pitman) are fantastic. The setting, decor, and, above all, the hair-dos are spot on. The movie reminds us that this is the time of the murder of Medgar Evers right there in Jackson, but its focus is on the everyday world of a small sliver of Southern society and its spoken and unspoken racist code. It's a fine, if not transcendent, effort, and judging by the reaction of the almost all-white audience at its first showing today in Denver, will be a commercial success.
Wednesday, August 10, 2011
The Help ***
A kind of history-light drama, this story of the unlikely friendship that develops between aspiring young white writer Skeeter (Emma Stone) and the black house maids of Jackson, Mississippi in the 1960's, presents an engaging and emotional look at the sharp divide between their worlds. While the spoiled and pampered white world of the Junior League is a bit on the cardboard cut-out side, the portraits of the two principal subjects of Jeeter's book, Abileen (Viola Davis) and Minny (Octavia Spencer) emerge powerfully in two incandescent performances. Supporting performances from a host of strong actors, including Sissy Spacek, Bryce Dallas Howard, Mary Steenburgen, and Cicely Tyson (who no longer needs lots of make-up to look as old as Miss Jane Pitman) are fantastic. The setting, decor, and, above all, the hair-dos are spot on. The movie reminds us that this is the time of the murder of Medgar Evers right there in Jackson, but its focus is on the everyday world of a small sliver of Southern society and its spoken and unspoken racist code. It's a fine, if not transcendent, effort, and judging by the reaction of the almost all-white audience at its first showing today in Denver, will be a commercial success.
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