“Remember the good ol’ days?” Don’t you just love that expression? Well, not if you were black in the sixties, or anytime before that. ‘The Help’ is a story about the struggling black maids in the sixties, the Civil Rights Movement is just around the corner, and even though on the surface, everyone acts like everything is happy and good, deep inside, there is a sense that things are about to change.
THE STORY
Amongst others, the film focuses on Skeeter (Emma Stone), she is a spunky young girl with a lot of taste for common sense. She was raised by a black maid, and now wonders why they are treated so poorly, yet they are entrusted with the care of babies, like Skeeter once was. She felt a bond with her “help.” So, she wants to write a story about the challenges that black maids have to deal with.
The story is mostly told in a linear fashion, with a few backtracks here and there. Director Tate Taylor did a good job with the pacing of the film. It starts out fairly slow, but becomes more and more interesting as the film progresses. The characters are engaging, although, I have a minor complaint about Bryce Dallas Howard’s character, Hilly Holbrook, her character was way too over-the-top, she is so one-dimensional that it takes reality away from her character, making her less believable. But, aside form Holbrook, all the other characters were developed with care. Nothing too obvious on the surface, but very sincere deep inside. The two maids are great, one very boisterous, and the other, very stoic. Different in personality, but they feel the same about the situations they are in.
This is a good movie. The film can sometimes feel like a campy family flick, but the message underneath is very serious.
The Story: A-
VIDEO QUALITY
Video quality for Disney releases have been good lately, and this one is no different. The 60s had a lot of dull washed-out looking colors, the cinematographer did a great job of recreating the colors in the film, and all this was transferred into the Blu-ray beautifully. There are no smudging or weird fake-looking sharpness on the frames. It is very clean, except for the intentional grains that helps recreate the feel of the 60s. The skin tones are great, everything just feels natural, even when the hairs and the make-ups in the 60s were anything but.
Video Quality: A
AUDIO QUALITY
Very good, very good indeed. The Help’s audio is very clean. The separations between the dialogue and the background noises are well done. The dialogue is very clear. No distractions from the background noises, which exists. The sound is just great, Disney didn’t get too fancy, which is good, as this film is more about the dialogue than anything.
Audio Quality: A
EXTRAS
– Deleted Scenes: Two scenes, one funny, and one alternate ending.
– Music Video: Mary J. Blidge perfroms, as scenes are played from the film, and cuts into Blidge singing in the studio.
– Additional Deleted Scenes: 3 more scenes.
– Featurette: The Making of The Help
– Featurette: In Their Own Words ‘A Tribute To the Maids of Mississippi”
The Extras are solid, and the kind of extras I would expect from Blu-ray releases these days, it consists of real Featurettes, as opposed to shameless self-promotions by the film’s cast and crew. We don’t care about that.
Disney did it right.
Extras: B+
OVERALL
This is a solid film, with a solid Blu-ray transfer, and with Extras that we truly want to dive into. The video and sound quality are both great. I highly recommend this film, it would make for a good gift.
Overall: A
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