The Help

Review #2 for my And the nominees are..... series.  The Help is nominated for 4 Academy Awards including Best Picture.


4 STARS

This is one of those movies that should be listed in the dictionary in all bold caps under the definitions for inspiring and heartfelt. I guess this could be the 21st century's Norma Rae.  Sometimes a good social change movie can bring just the right amount of tears to your eyes with poignant moments but a great social change movie will force you jump and cheer all the while those tears are rolling down your cheeks, not that I would know anything about that damn it.

As far as I am concerned, some of the stand-out performances of 2011 are in this movie, and three of them are nominated for acting honors. In the first frame of the movie, Viola Davis' (Abileen) performance is haunting, yet electrifying throughout the rest of the running time.  She is nominated for the coveted Best Actress honor. You can find Octavia Spencer (Minny) playing some background character or guest role in so many movies and television shows.  According to her IMDb page, her first role was playing Sandra Bullock's nurse in A Time to Kill.  I recently saw her in a multi-episode guest role on Ugly Betty.  Now, she has won a Golden Globe and is nominated for the best supporting actress Oscar for her superb comedic/dramatic role in The Help.  These two incomparable talents play best friends and their chemistry is dead on.  The Help is also just one stop on the roller coaster ride that was 2011 for the talents of Emma Stone and Jessica Chastain.  Chastain is nominated for Best Supporting Actress for her turn as the precocious, loveable, yet just a bit naive at first, Celia Foote.  I have to say the folks involved with casting this movie put together one of the finest group of actresses I have personally seen in years.  And kudos to putting in the great Cicely Tyson!

I am not even going to go on and on with a synopsis of this movie.  But, if you haven't seen it yet, go rent RIGHT NOW!  There is a reason why, out of the ten nominees for Best Picture, this is the number one movie in box office earnings with over $170 million in the United States alone.  Do yourself a favor on this big football weekend, rise up out of that damn chair, and help your eyes experience a tour de force film in The Help.

Thank you and see you at the next blog.