The Help

It's the early 60's, and a young debutante from Jackson, Mississippi decides she would like to write a book from the viewpoint of the "help."  As she tries to get local maids to cooperate and give interviews she finds that the current political atmosphere along with the early civil rights movement, has them all fearful and unwilling to aide her in her efforts.

I went to London/Paris about 2 weeks ago -- long story short, our flight got canceled and we were rescheduled for a later flight.  This left me and my two girlfriends that I was traveling with 5 hours to kill in LAX.  So I bought this book and read it to them -- and anyone else within ear shot.  (I did all the voices too!) Anyway, the book was great. We laughed endlessly, in fact there were a few moments that I could barely read the words on the page I was laughing so hard.  So you can imagine our excitement as well as our expectations for the movie....

It was sweet.  In terms of adaptations, it was sweet.  There are so many details that are left out that completely define certain characters, that we, my fellow travelers and I, decided that if we hadn't read the book we don't think we would have liked the movie that much, but having all the information, it was easier to accept the movie for what it was.  Again, the book was fabulous and if you haven't read it, I would suggest you do so before you see the movie.  Notwithstanding if you happen to see the flick first, even with it's uneven character development,  Hollywood endings,  and blurring of subplots, it is still very sweet.


*** Must See


Rated PG-13 (for language and thematic material)