The Help DVD Review
Posted by Tony Farinella on 12.06.2011
One of the most talked about and critically acclaimed films is out on DVD. How does the DVD hold up? Check out the full review from 411mania's Tony Farinella!
The Help was one of the most talked about films to be released this past summer, without question. It has been the talk of the entertainment world and has sparked a lot of discussion. It is an adaptation of the book, The Help , written by Kathryn Stockett, which focused on two African-American maids and their experiences during the 1960’s in America. I must admit that I have not read the book, so I will be unable to compare or contrast the source material. With this review, I will focus strictly on the film and how it works as a stand-alone piece of art.
The film opens up by introducing us to Aibileen Clark and Minny Jackson, played respectively by Viola Davis and Octavia Spencer. They are both maids, but they couldn’t be any more different in personality. Aibileen holds her pain in and wears it all on her face. You can see a woman who has lived a hard, difficult, and challenging life. She’s trying to be strong, do what she can, but it’s clear that she has a lot of scars inside. Minny, on the other hand, is outspoken, difficult, and a battering ram. She might be a maid, but that doesn’t mean she won’t stand up for herself or speak out. The other notable character in the film is Eugenia "Skeeter" Phelan, played by Emma Stone. She is focused completely on her career as opposed to meeting a man and settling down.
This causes her sick mother, played by Allison Janney, a great deal of stress. At one point in the film, her mother asks if her if she is attracted to women. If she is, there is a cure for it, according to her mother. Upon returning home to Jackson, Mississippi, she gets a job at the local paper writing about homemaking skills and tips. She asks her friends if she can interview and talk to their maids for advice with her column. Her friends are not exactly eager to offer their maids up to Skeeter. They worry that it will distract them from their work around the house. Eventually, they give in, and Skeeter finds out the ugly truth about how these maids are treated.
After some pushing and after realizing it needs to be done in order for things to change, the women agree to sit down with Skeeter and tell their story. The story includes Hilly Holbrook (Bryce Dallas Howard), a woman so paranoid of blacks that she fires one of them for using her bathroom. She would rather they use their own bathroom because she believes that they carry different diseases than white people. It also includes Aibileen raising young white children all by herself, while the parents don’t even want to change their diapers. The story goes on and on, and when you hear it, it makes your hair turn shock white from disgust. It’s true, however, and that’s what makes it all the more frightening. Their story and others, of course, are included in the book, The Help. They couldn’t use their names for legal reasons in Mississippi, but the women who committed the crime know who they are. They are the ones who have to live with that for the rest of their lives.
There is no denying the impact of what these women went through or how unjust it truly was. With that being said, as a film, it’s incredibly flawed. The film, as a whole, feels like a made for TV Hallmark movie of the week. It sort of meanders on screen and lacks any real bite or punch. There are singular moments that are heartfelt, painful, and punch you right in the gut, such as the last half hour of the film. If the film would have had the same tone and same rough feel that the last half hour possessed, it would have been a spectacular movie. Instead, it settles for cheap comedy and lazy stereotypes. The material is there for a great movie, but the director never fully utilizes it. A lot of people use the term, “Oscar bait,” and this film screams “Oscar bait.”
Acting wise, Viola Davis is the heart and soul of this movie. It is her movie and she carries the whole project on her back. So much of this film is her face, her pain, and her anguish. She puts her heart and soul in this film and it shows. Octavia Spencer is the sass and guts of the film. Instead of holding her anger in, she lashes out at everyone that dares to cross her. Emma Stone is serviceable in this movie, but I wouldn’t call it a great performance by her. Then again, I don’t know if she is supposed to really stand out because it’s only partially her story, as she once had a maid of her own that she was very close to that disappeared for reasons never explained to her.
Don’t get me wrong, The Help is not a bad movie. It’s strictly average, mediocre, and OK. It borders on being good, but never reaches the level of greatness. It should have been great, considering its source material and the content. I felt like they didn’t really go for it and get to the heart of the matter. When you are going to tackle a subject like this, you can’t take the lazy, clichéd approach. You have to be willing to take some chances, focus on their pain, and make this a gritty, hard-nosed film. In the end, it’s simply a Hollywood crowd-pleaser that is hoping to win some Oscar nominations.
DVD Info:The Help is released by Touchstone pictures on three formats. The first is a 3-Disc Blu-Ray, DVD, and Digital Copy combo pack. The second is strictly DVD and Blu-Ray. The third is just the DVD. This DVD features subtitles in English, French Canadian, and Spanish. The audio is presented in 5.1 and 2.0 Dolby Digital. The aspect ratio is 1.85:1. The film looks terrific on DVD. This is not really the type of film that needs Blu-Ray. It looks perfectly acceptable on DVD.
Special Features:
Deleted Scenes: Two deleted scenes are introduced here by the director Tate Taylor. There is a different ending, which I have to admit, I sort of liked. It’s the ending that was used in the book and it works. Although with the way they wanted the film to look and feel, the ending used in the film is appropriate. The other deleted scene is just mostly filler, so it’s not really missed.
Mary J. Blige’s Living Proof Music Video
The 411: As a rental, The Help is just fine. I don’t think it’s the type of film that I would rush out to add to my DVD collection. I would see it just so you can see what all the hype and attention is about. It’s a film worth seeing even though it’s flawed. It shows us a time that needs to be seen without a doubt. It’s history even if at times it’s ugly history. The women and their stories needed to be told. I just wish they would have given them a better movie.
