Tuesday, August 16, 2011

The Help...the Movie



A little disappointed that I couldn't see this movie with any of my fellow B-Fabers, I dragged my bro and Rob to see The Help in theatres last night. It started at 8:20 and we didn't get out until just past 11 (yikes - long movie!!!)

Besides the fact that it was long, I thought it had both some bad and some good points. It is definitely worth seeing. I will start with the bad to get that out of the way:

-I was trying to watch it in the perspective of someone who didn't just finish reading the book and found this a little impossible. The movie moves very fast between characters in the beginning, leaving the non-reading viewers a little confused.

-Many of my favourite parts in the novel were absent from the movie, making it a little more difficult to really get into some relationships (even though the movie was over 2 hours long!)

-We never meet Stuarts family, or get his reaction to Skeeter driving the truck with attached plow,

-Skeeter's dad is almost non-present in the movie,

-Charlotte's struggle with cancer is not super prominent in the movie,

-Mae Mobley never uses Aibileen's special bathroom,

-we never see Celia's bed-ridden struggles creeping around in empty rooms upstairs longing for a baby,

-the only "racial problem" we see/hear about in the film is the shooting of the black man by a KKK member, but no other beatings or other aggressive behaviour

-and most importantly - there's no crazy naked man harassing Minny and Celia in her backyard!!! (A chance for Celia to save Minny and form a new bond)

-a few things were changed or forgotten obviously to help the filming move along, so maybe we can discuss those at the next BFab???!

Great stuff:

-the "terrible-awful" is most definitely a highlight of the movie (although my bro said if he heard the word "pie" one more time in the movie he was gonna leave...as in, too much about it!)

-the acting was excellent, with Minny (Octavia Spencer) stealing the show. Just the expression in her eyes was enough in some scenes...she was awesome!

-Hilly was a well-played bitch (Bryce Dallas Howard). It was easy to hate her from the beginning and the interactions between her and her little minions remind us just how young these ladies were!

-Skeeter and Aibileen had amazing chemistry as well...so all-in-all, loved the characters.

-loved all the church scenes, the singing, the sense of community

-Hilly's mom...OMG, she was a hoot! A little younger looking than I pictured her in the book, but really well played.

Looking forward to hearing everyone else's opinions on the film version of the book in September, or feel free to post here!

xoxo R-Fab

3 comments:

  1. Hey Renee! Look at meeeee... I'm commenting on your blog : ) : ) : )

    I loved the movie. Thought it was excellent! However, I thought Emma Stone wasn't tall and gangly enough to play Skeeter. But Minny and Hilly were bang on. Totally stole the show!

    Good movie. Got teary eyed at the end. Too bad we couldn't all see it at the same time. We'll have to plan a night out to watch the Hunger Games when it finally comes out. Erinn mentioned maybe even the next Twilight movie!

    Julie P.

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  2. Ummmmm of course! I can't freakin wait for Hunger Games or Twilight...am I sixteen? I'll let you know as soon as tickets go on sale on-line!

    True, Emma Stone was definitely not gangly enough, but doesn't she look insanely different with super curly and then super straight hair?!

    What are you reading now? I need suggestions...

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  3. Right I'm reading The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society. Just something light to read while I'm on vacation.

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