A feel-good movie about southern racism. This is a tricky task by any standards, but somehow The Help balances that fine line beautifully, albeit a bit too safe at times. Here is a movie where the greatness is entirely thanks to the cast. The large ensemble is perfectly assembled, and each actor makes the most of the script, one that relies too heavily on those 'feel-good' movie cliches. This was a movie I was not entirely positive I wanted to see. Sure, Viola Davis was unbelievably powerful in her pivotal, Oscar-nominated role in Doubt, but aside from that there wasn't a particularly huge draw for me. Sitting down one night to watch it months after its release date, I was pleasantly surprised to find myself completely involved. By the end I even had a few tears trickling down my face. The movie takes the conventional wisdom employed in The Blind Side: a movie about white people helping less-fortunate black people is a sure-fire way to win at the box office. It's so very true. Yet while The Blind Side completely disregarded its central black character, The Help relishes in making these maids layered and beautiful characters. Is this a racist movie? Arguments could be made for or against it, but I would say no (even if the entire plot is that it takes a white person to help black people solve their own problems).
As previously mentioned, the casting is great. Even Emma Stone, a relatively light comic actress, delivers a powerful turn as a modern woman bent on changing her deeply-racist home town. The stars of the movie, though, are Viola Davis and Octavia Spencer. Here are two experienced actors at the very top of their game. Spencer delivers a moving though more humorous role, while Davis has a character deep with backstory and heartbreaking scenes. Her greatness I found is fueled almost exclusively by her eyes, showing an endless range of emotions in the smallest moments. Davis's character is one we love like a mother, and to see the agonies she must go through is absolutely resonant with audiences. During a time when there was so much hatred, here is one woman who is so filled with love.
The movie is not without its flaws, seen mostly in the relatively safe screenplay. Before seeing this movie I would have brushed it off as a small summer movie with no Oscar chances, but with the box office and critical reaction demonstrating enormous support for the film, I am crossing my fingers that some Oscar nominations are on the horizon. (Should they snub everything else, I sincerely hope Viola Davis receives the recognition she deserves for her amazing performance.)
(Awards potential: Best Actress (Davis), Best Supporting Actress (Spencer), Best Costume Design, Best Original Score, Best Art Direction, Best Original Song - 'The Living Proof')
