The Help

This picture kind of illustrates what I like and dislike about the movie (actor/theme-wise).

I pretty much agree with the Metacritic rating of The Help: C+, for largely the same reasons. The film can be entertaining and well-crafted, but often it veers into condescension, schmaltz, and gratuitous slapstick. The writing is uneven, which may or may not be due to Stockett. The romantic plotline is useless; I think we can figure out that what Skeeter really cares about is her career from, you know, the movie. Oscar-placement-wise, I wonder if Emma Stone could in any way campaign supporting. She’s definitely gone for long stretches at a time; Viola Davis is the one who does the beginning/end/occasional middle narration. Viola Davis gets the most emotional arc and does a great job with it, but if she can be considered lead-borderline-supporting, I think Stone should be too. There have been plenty of more obvious lead roles that got supporting noms/wins and vice versa. ‘Course, there’s the question of whether Stone would get enough traction, but she did manage to be the only Globe nominee last year who wasn’t at least partially riding on the coattails of a previous Oscar nom. I suppose if she has no chance at a supporting Oscar nom, it would be simpler if she got a 2^nd lead Comedy/Musical Globe nom. Not that the film was funny, but it would obviously be much easier to get into categories and gain momentum if it’s campaigned as such. Previous Oscar nominees are theoretically aplenty in potential Globe nominees though: Davis, Foster/Winslet in a more egregiously labeled “comedy,” Theron, even if as usual the Oscar nominees should be drawn mostly from the drama field. 

Oh right, the actual movie. There are really only 5 characters that are up for discussion. Hilly is one-note evil, and Howard plays her as such; it’s not very interesting, and I know this is shallow but I like my queen bees to be prettier. Like Regina George says, “She’s not pretty. I know that sounds bad or whatever, but the spring fling queen is always pretty!” I will say that she’s better than Evan Rachel Wood in Mildred Pierce, a similarly spoiled evil princess. Chastain’s character is marginally more complex and created to be more likable obviously, but I found her annoying and Chastain’s performance was just there. Maybe one of her other million movies out this year boasts a stronger turn from her. Spencer…I don’t get the hype. Yes, she’s “sassy” in a stereotypical way; I don’t find her funny, I don’t find her sympathetic, and frankly I was bored when it was her storyline onscreen rather than Stone’s or Davis’s. I suppose she could be a scene-stealer since she’s, you know, the main character in her own storyline, oh wait that’s not a scene-stealer is it. It seems unfair that out of the 5, Stone is the least talked about as a possible Oscar nominee because either A) 3 supporting actresses for a movie has been done just once and it’d imply the movie has no lead, or B) if Davis is lead people would grumble about how Davis shouldn’t be a category up from Stone and how Stone reduced the chances of an actual supporting player (whether in or outside of this film). I’m not entirely convinced that Davis deserves a Lead Oscar for this performance; a supporting win, yes, a lead nom, yes. But she would certainly be a better choice than many others from the past (at least a handful from the last decade alone) and performances have won lead Oscars with less % of the screentime. She just doesn’t make me go “Yes, she Deserves a win” the way I went with Abbie Cornish (snubbed everywhere) and Michelle Williams (snagged that 5^th slot). I will be psyched if the movie gets a SAG ensemble nod since it would technically make Stone a Sag nominee. The music is blandly emotionally manipulative; it could have a bid. The costumes are nice I guess. Nothing particularly exciting happens in relation to directorial/cinematography decisions. For the greatness of the two main female performances this movie is worth watching, plus for others to make their judgments on one of the most Oscar ensemble actressing movies of the last decade. What’s the competition, really? Even The Hours for its having 3 female-led storylines had one of those nominated for its male actor instead of La Streep. And Chicago got a nom for Reilly and got traction at the Globes and such for Gere for lead. 

2.5/5 (Yes, that's a C+ for me.)