The Help

Released: 2011
Drama
Director: Tate Taylor
Starring: Emma Stone, Viola Davis
Running Time: 146 minutes
Rated: PG-13

The breakdown:  A young aspiring writer breaks out of her conventional socialite role and helps expose the civil injustice of African American maids in Jackson, Mississippi during the 1960's.

A young girl in the 1960's just graduated college and is back at home in Jackson, Mississippi.  This is a very small and mostly racist town at this time in history.  The girl wants nothing to do with men, so she doesn't have a boyfriend or husband, but she wants a career as a writer.  She applies to the local paper and ends up getting a cleaning how to column.  With humble beginnings, she wants to ask the all African American maids to help her with cleaning questions.  She finds one that is willing to help her and they get along well enough.  At first, it's just cleaning, but then the writer sees an opportunity to tell the house cleaners stories of the white families they work for.  She promises they will not get in trouble since she'll change all the names.  The writer sees more and more of how society is not treating the help, or African Americans right and wants to make a difference.

The story was based on a book, and though the movie is good, to me, it didn't feel genuine enough and relied to heavily on stereotypes to tell its story.  Emma Stone did a good job and so did some of the actors, but I find the storyline a bit overdone and predictable.  It's trying to be a tearjerker for tearjerking's sake.  It was just a bit above average, but slow paced.

3 out of 5 for having some cute stories and good acting, but overall just good, not great.