The Help

Directed by: Tate Taylor

Written by: Tate Taylor (screenplay), Kathryn Stockett (novel)

Before you judge me too harshly, please keep in mind that I went to see this movie earlier this summer because my mother requested it as her birthday event. That being said, it wasn't too bad.

Skeeter (Stone) is a feisty young journalist who returns to her roots in Mississippi only to find things not quite as rosy as she remembers there. Specifically, her white friends have instituted rather draconian measures against their African-American housekeepers. Skeeter decides to secretly write a book about the experiences of the housekeepers which, when released, rocks her hometown.

The movie is better than you'd expect. The acting, in case you haven't already heard, is superb. Oscar worthy? Possibly - hard to tell. It also has a good balance of comedy mixed in to the drama to keep things from getting too heavy.

My only complaint - albeit a significant one, philosophically - is the watering down of the violence in the history. Although it is repeatedly said that the characters are in danger, no danger is actually ever shown. Violence and harm are implied. Actual historical events, such as the assassination of Medgar Evers, are referenced without any discussion of their significance beyond what is needed to get through that scene. I call it Disneyfication of history, and I don't like it.

Still, it's a recommendable movie, and worth checking out.