For an exercise in brevity, I’d like to try something new with my movie reviews. I’m going to attempt to write 100-word movie reviews for films that don’t (in my opinion) warrant 1,000 words of commentary and to save myself some time. I hope this will lead to more commentary from my readers so there’s a little more conversation, a little less of my blather.
The Help
Cast: Viola Davis, Emma Stone, Octavia Spencer, Jessica Chastain, Bryce Dallas Howard
Summary: A Jackson-native journalist decides to write an article from the perspective of black maids who have to work for white people, and the maids are understandably reluctant to share their experiences because they’re afraid of the repercussions.
100-Word Review: The White Savior aspect of the film is downplayed; Skeeter is her own character with her own subplot, but the film emphasizes the courage of Aibileen and Minny and presents Skeeter as the vessel through whom they share their stories. At the same time, the story stinks of a white woman whose family had an underpaid black family in their employ when the author was a kid, and feels really bad about it, so she makes herself feel better by imagining that the maid really liked taking care of her and loved her like a daughter. Acting nominations are well-deserved.
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I agree. Viola Davis’s performance was incredible. I was annoyed through a good portion of this movie, yet sobbing through the scene when Davis talks about what happened to her son. Sobbing. She’s my hero. Also, Jessica Chastain and Octavia Spencer were great. Movie as a whole, not so much.
She puts so much humanity and depth in each scene that she’s in. I’ve now seen 4 of the 5 Best Actress nominees and I think she deserves to win.
I have heard so much about this movie (literally, so much it’s almost ridiculous) that I can’t decide if I want to see it or not. I think I may have to, just so I can decide for myself what the important subtext is.
Given the Oscar noms, I am kind of curious in a more positive way.
I think it’s worth a look. Fair warning, though – critics have compared the candy-colored sets and bright lighting to Hairspray and now I can’t unsee it.