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Written by Gregg Shapiro
Aug 12, 2011
Viola Davis gives an Oscar-worthy performance in “The Help.” – Photo: Courtesy
‘The Help’
Based on Kathryn Stockett’s acclaimed and best-selling novel of the same name, “The Help” is set in 1960s Mississippi, where not much has changed in race relations since the Civil War. Most of the white society women of Jackson treat their maids as less than human, refusing to share toilets with them. And yet these maids are indispensable in the kitchen and the nursery, where they essentially raise the children of women who can barely conceal their disdain for the help.
Then along comes Eugenia (the ubiquitous Emma Stone), aka Scooter, fresh from college with her wild and frizzy hair and her progressive attitudes. For her first job, Scooter is hired by newspaper editor Mr. Blackly (gay actor Leslie Jordan) to fill in for the cleaning advice columnist. Having been raised by a maid herself, Scooter knows nothing about cleaning or housekeeping. So she solicits the aid of Aibileen (Viola Davis), the maid of a friend.
What follows is a story of three very different women who build an unlikely friendship around a secret writing project that breaks societal rules and puts them all at risk. Although “The Help” could afford to shed about 20 minutes, it is nevertheless a film full of Oscar-worthy performances, powerful social messages and enough laughs and tears to require a full box of tissues.
‘30 Minutes or Less’
The title of this movie, which is as ugly and repugnant as its Michigan setting, refers to the amount of time that pizza delivery driver Nick (Jesse Eisenberg) has to get his rusted out ’Stang to various residences. Sound familiar? But those 30 minutes aren’t Nick’s biggest problem.
First there’s Nick’s schoolteacher roommate Chet (Aziz Ansari). Nick, who is in love with Chet’s twin sister Kate (Dilshad Vadsaria), trades barbs and then blows with Chet, who is not in the least bit nice, but is very funny. But Nick’s bigger problem comes in the form of social deviants Dwayne (Danny McBride) and Travis (Nick Swardson), who like to blow things up and are the human embodiment of adult versions of Beavis and Butthead.
Dwayne, tired of being pushed around by his ex-military father The Major (Fred Ward), plans his demise, which involves hiring a hitman. In order to get the cash to pay the hired killer, the brain trust of Dwayne and Travis comes up with an elaborate bank robbery scheme that includes forcing an abducted Nick, in a form-fitting bomb vest with 10 hours on the timer, to come up with the cash or be blown to bits.
This film lacks everything that made “Zombieland,” Ruben Fleischer’s full-length feature film debut, such an original entertainment. And “30 Minutes or Less” is 87 minutes too long.
