Hello movie lovers, first of all I would like to thank the Grand Forks Gazette for allowing me to continue with my movie reviews, much appreciated.
My first review is about a wonderful movie called The Help. This movie will be well known to Academy Award watchers as one of the actresses (Octavia Spencer) won an Oscar for best supporting actress and she really deserved it.
This movie is about a forward-thinking young journalist Skeeter Phelan, played by Emma Stone, who wishes to write a book from a maid’s perspective. The movie takes place in Jackson, Miss. in the ‘60s so of course, this kind of thing does not go down well with so many of the other residents.
The protagonist interviews maids about what their lives are like. Many horror stories abound, so when the book eventually goes to print, the town’s name is not mentioned.
Some very juicy roles appear in the film, one played by Ron Howard’s daughter (Bryce Dallas Howard) and she is most convincing. It is hard to recognize Sissy Spacek at first in her role as Missus Walters and the same can be said of Mary Steenburgen, who also has a small part, as Elain Stein.
I have always thought racism to be very ugly and this film just cements that notion, but it also gives great hope that things can improve. As the mother of our protagonist Charlotte Phelan (Allison Janney) says, “Courage sometimes misses a generation.”
This being said in a very moving scene where Charlotte, who has been very racist herself, is so proud of her daughter for being different. I would advise one and all to take in this movie and there are many copies in our wonderful video store, so there is no excuse.
– Liz Martin is a movie reviewer for The Gazette and a movie lover, cello player and happy retiree
