Rated PG-13 for thematic material
Cast: Viola Davis, Emma Stone, Bryce Dallas Howard, Octavia L. Spencer, Jessica Chastain
Director: Tate Taylor
There may be a tendency to criticize the film's reliance on caricatures (which it occasionally does) or to accuse it of glossing over its racial themes (which is debatable). I imagine the book was better equipped than the film adaptation to crystallize the complicated relationships between white households of the time and the African-American maids that raised the children. But director Tate Taylor (a childhood friend of Stockett's, to whom she entrusted said adaptation) skillfully weaves together an array of parallel storylines, gets tremendous performances from his cast, and imbues the movie with both intelligence and a welcome sentimentality that earns our sympathy rather than merely demanding it, as many tearjerkers do.
The story is fueled by a struggle to comprehend the hypocrisy-riddled atmosphere of the Deep South during the 1960s, where black women were deemed acceptable enough to raise white children but considered too unsanitary to share the same bathroom. The story's catalyst is Eugenia "Skeeter" Phelan (Emma Stone), a recent graduate of Ole Miss who longs for a career as a journalist. She arrives home to discover that her beloved caretaker, Constantine (Cicely Tyson) is no longer employed with the family and her terminally-ill mother, Charlotte (Allison Janney) may know more than she is letting on.
Skeeter's discontent gains momentum upon learning of a locally-bred drive called the Home Health Sanitation Initiative, which would require every white home to be equipped with a separate bathroom for the black maids so as to prevent disease. This is the would-be brainchild of one Hilly Holbrook (Bryce Dallas Howard), the head of the Junior League. Appalled at the treatment of the housekeepers, Skeeter decides to write a book told from the perspective of the help. After a bit of convincing, she finally secures the testimony of Abileen Clark (Viola Davis) and her closest confidante, the sharp-tongued Minny Jackson (Octavia Spencer), both of whom contribute under a tarp of secrecy for fear of unemployment, false accusations of theft, or worse. As incidents of racial injustice mount, more housekeepers join the endeavor.
Viola Davis owns the movie, giving yet another Oscar-caliber performance as a woman stronger than she realizes, who puts her soul into instilling confidence in the children while enduring racist attitudes from the adults, brutal in their insouciance. Her resigned, understated manner of describing her own personal loss makes the heart ache. The character's finest moments involve the confessions to Skeeter; she's able to alter the atmosphere around her with the most subtle of gestures. As the irrepressible, no-nonsense Minny, Octavia Spencer is effective as well. Her best scenes are shared with Celia Foote (Jessica Chastain), the newest resident of Jackson who is considered white trash by the Hilly-led socialites and shunned. The two form an unlikely bond that ends up strengthening both individual's resolve.
The movie does its best to make Emma Stone homely as the outspoken Skeeter. While it's an impossible task (Stone is such a naturally lovely young woman), she manages to be convincing enough as an overlooked tomboy who hasn't time for boys who can't appreciate the passion she has for her voice. Some may dismiss Bryce Dallas Howard's portrayal as Hilly to be one note, but when your character operates from such an intense depth of self-loathing, there aren't many notes at your disposal. Hilly is defined by her actions rather than acting nuance. (She places her mother into a nursing home merely for laughing at her, and isn't above staging a fake theft to prove a point that has no merit to begin with.) And Sissy Spacek has a memorable turn as Hilly's mother, who is keenly aware of the hypocrisy surrounding her even as her own mental faculties erode with age. (Her reaction to Minny's dessert-hidden revenge on Hilly is priceless.)
No, this isn't the most penetrating of movies about racial injustice and yes, it's engineered to be a crowd-pleaser of sorts, where audiences can readily cheer the courage of the heroic and hiss at the actions of the prejudiced. But I don't think it's out to simply apply a bandage to racial injustice. The movie understands that civil rights aren't about the preservation of one race, but of all races. The genesis of bigotry is self-hatred. One's dignity can never be maintained by shredding the dignity of another. The only way we can truly love and accept ourselves is through the acceptance of others. When Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat on that bus, she was doing all of us a favor.
* * * out of * * * * stars
