The Help

Lovely performances makes this far too clean and neat story, not merely palatable but enjoyable. We know by now that the plight of the "colored" in the South wasn't that clean cut or gentle in any way or shape. Here we can sit and watch discovering the depth of he ordeal in the wonderful face of Viola Davis. But, it all remains in the mild margins of the real story. Entertaining yes but I couldn't forget documentaries of the period or "The Long Walk Home" with Whoopi Goldberg and Sissy Spacek. Sissy Spacek is in "The Help" too and she's very funny. It also shows Bryce Dallas Howard under a new light. The bitchy, almost evil light. She's better here than she's ever been. Emma Stone is lovely and the wonderful Allison Janney in a disturbingly recognizable character raises the film to unexpected levels. I felt the film was too long and too careful not to offend anybody and that's were its weaknesses lay. But, I do recommend it.