This post was contributed by a community member. The views expressed here are the author's own.

Arts & Entertainment

Greenbelters Review 'The Help'

Our reviewers this week were Sheila Maffay-Tuthill, Anna Socrates and Mark Stenson.

Welcome Patch's Tugwell Theatre Group, where local movie buffs share their thoughts about films at the Old Greenbelt Theatre. With four pops being the best rating a movie can grab, find out how popcorn-worthy your neighbors deem this week's show.

Sheila Maffay-Tuthill
3 pops: ☼☼☼

Strong performances abound, and it does respectfully represent the characters involved. I can almost guarantee a couple of goose-bumpy, tingly moments for you...

Find out what's happening in Greenbeltwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Anna Socrates
3 1/2 pops: ☼☼
☼+1/2

I expected to loathe The Help.  But to my surprise, I didn’t, thanks to a strong ensemble cast, especially Viola Davis, Octavia Spencer and Jessica Chastain

Find out what's happening in Greenbeltwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Mark Stenson
2 1/2 pops: ☼
☼+1/2

The movie is wonderful in many ways from the beautiful set pieces and clothing to the terrific main story and even the directing by Tate Taylor. But sadly there is not enough in the film to justify the 137-minute run time.

FULL REVIEWS

Sheila Maffay-Tuthill's Review

The Help has charm and is an enjoyable feel-good movie about a really difficult time in our history. The interaction of white southern families and their African-American domestic workers in the 60s makes for a thought-provoking film.

But the criticism leveled at the book, and now the film, does resonate.  Basically the argument is that at the time depicted, African-Americans had already started their own protests and movement to gain their proper equal role in society — but in this story, the women of color require a white woman with "spunk" to help them.  If you can make peace with that idea and then move forward, this is a great movie to watch.

Strong performances abound, and it does respectfully represent the characters involved. I can almost guarantee a couple of goose-bumpy, tingly moments for you if you see this film!

Anna Socrates' Review

Desegregation Hollywood style: gawky white girl journeys toward self-discovery and drags along two African American maids — one stoic and the other feisty! I expected to loathe The Help.  But to my surprise, I didn’t, thanks to a strong ensemble cast, especially Viola Davis, Octavia Spencer and Jessica Chastain.

The bevy of young white society matrons all came from the “tall and willowy” doll factory, with interchangeable hair and clothes — even Skeeter, the film’s supposedly awkward protagonist. (Why does Hollywood equate “plain,” with frizzy hair and horn-rimmed glasses?) The maids, thankfully, looked and acted like real people.

At its best, the film portrayed strong friendships that transcended racial lines and caste barriers. The most moving involved the outspoken Minnie and Celia, Marilyn Monroe’s poor white twin.

Also subtly depicted was the casual viciousness of Jim Crow South: cops beat a theft suspect, frightened African Americans scatter after hearing about Medgar Evers’s murder, mistresses ordered their maids in harsh tones, and one delivers a lecture on Ayn Randian hyper-individualism. Disturbing, too, are the troubled relationships — constrained by the unattainable ideal of “The Southern Belle” — between white mothers and daughters. A plot-critical moment of Farrelly Brothers-worthy humor seemed out of place.

This film deserves three and a half popcorns, but I’d rather have a piece of Minnie’s fried chicken (please, hold the pie though).

Mark Stenson's Review

The Help is a emotionally packed film but doesn’t reach it's full potential of being an effective film. It is based on the popular 2009 novel of the same name by Kathryn Stockett. The film takes place in the 1960’s and tells the story of three amazing women who break the boundaries of social and legal laws to create a book about stories from “the help's” point of view.

Emma Stone plays Skeeter the ambitious writer of the book and the lead role in this wonderfully refreshing almost all female cast. But sadly she underwhelms with a weird southern accent. She has plenty of help with terrific near tear jerking performances by Viola Davis, who plays Aibileen Clark, and by Octavia Spencer who plays Minny — acting as servants who defy the law to aid Skeeter in writing her daring novel.

The movie is wonderful in many ways from the beautiful set pieces and clothing to the terrific main story and even the directing by Tate Taylor. But sadly there is not enough in the film to justify the 137-minute run time. I was often wondering where the film was going and losing interest in the side plots. Many of the side plots where not really needed and diminished the final product, such as humorous parts that they killed to death.

The Help is a wonderful film telling the story of America’s dreary past and how some brave women stood up for what they believed is right, but the film isn’t perfect by any means.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

The views expressed in this post are the author's own. Want to post on Patch?

More from Greenbelt