The Help

Viola Davis is a captivating screen presence. Be it a sympathetic social worker in Trust, or the fascinating Mrs. Miller in Doubt. However, I think she is perfectly cast here, playing a warm black maid in Mississippi in the 50's in The Help, one of the better racial dramas in the last few years. Set in Jackson, The Help tells the story of the brave, yet naive Skeeter, played in ebullient form by Emma Stone, who wonders what happens to the coloured help, the maids who unrelentingly nurture white children, when the children grow up. She questions Aibileen, her 'friends' maid, in secret, to write a book all about the escapades they go through daily. She also gets the wonderfully sassy Minny, with an Oscar-award winning performance by Octavia Spencer. Also on the radar are the charming and ditzy Celia Foote, played off-type by Jessica Chastain, and the evil racist prom-queen bitch Hilly, played in cruel form by Bryce Dallas Howard. Also good is Allison Janney, who is constantly teetering between racist and tolerant. Despite a fantastic all star cast, the film can be schmaltzy and the length is undeniably bloated. In retrospect, it is a very well done and fascinatingly written film.

4/5

Teo