And it was cute! I actually liked it more than I expected to. Emma Stone was infectiously likable as Skeeter Phelan, and Jessica Chastain was just as confusingly clueless as small-town girl Celia Foote. The emotional gravitas, though, was brought by Viola Davis and Octavia Spencer as maids Aibileen and Minny. (Chastain and Spencer were both nominated for an Oscar in the Best Supporting Oscar category; Spencer won.) And let's not forget Allison Janney, who played a hilarious mom in Juno and repeats the role here.
To make the book work as a movie, the director and screenwriters cut out a fair amount of Skeeter's relationships with her friends and boyfriend. While that was probably the safest area to cut because it preserves the racial elements that made the book a bit of a touchstone, it does leave the film a teeny bit disjointed. Even so, it's still as enjoyable and enlightening as unfortunate recent history (even fictionalized history) can be.
Bottom line: good acting which is enjoyable to watch.
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