The Help (2011)

* * * *

A clever and entertaining film which shows a side to the Civil Rights Movement that is often left out. Luckily, although this film is of the drama genre, there is humour throughout which makes the film educational and hard-hitting while still being entertaining and watchable.

The female heavy cast were impressive and all seemed very strong, to the extent that three of them were given Oscar nominations. Viola Davis, in particular, performed brilliantly and brought so much emotion into her scenes; she deserved her award nominations, however I have not seen the Iron Lady and therefore cannot state if she should have won.

The use of humour and emotion improved this film as you liked the characters, due to their humour, and therefore cared about them during their sad stories, so much so that on several occasions in the film I welled up. However, sometimes they put the humour where it was not needed, for example they attempted to create a comical, yet formidable villain; this was unnecessary.