The Help

[Beate]

Maybe we have to start bringing "reserved" signs for our seats with us to screenings, like the ones they do when they are waiting for VIPs or someone official then no one would dare sit there?

[Ms Thrifty]

Saw this at an almost-full Everyman. As this was their first open (as opposed to members') preview in over two-and-a-half years, I hope the good turnout will persuade them to continue this time, as last time it seemed very promising but turned out to be a one-off.

The film itself didn't start until 11.30 am, which was annoying given that it's a very long film anyway, but amazingly, although there were lots of people dashing for the loo at the last minute, not a single one needed a comfort break during the film. I really enjoyed it, though it was sentimental and felt as though it had had the Hollywood treatment (not having read the book, though, this is only my impression); also - again, purely my own view - I think it would appeal more to women than men. I'd give it a solid 8/10 and as I was leaving, heard one woman remark to another that it was the best film she'd seen all year. Without in any way wishing to disparage the film, I wondered what else she had seen, as I consider there have been many other equally good films this year and probably more to come.

Whilst we were queueing in the foyer, all clutching our printouts, a member of staff explained that as it was a preview shared between Everyman members and the general public, priority would be given to members and their seats allocated first. However, when he asked for members to raise their hands, only one man did. I then heard the cashier ringing another member to remind her/him about the preview and to ask whether s/he still intended to see it. Evidently the answer was "no". As the members clearly don't take up their allocation, I hope that rather than abandoning previews altogether, Everyman will carry on using SFF.

[Beate]

Oh so THAT is why Greenwich Picturehouse make every SFF ticket holder queue up for proper tickets at the till, so that members can bypass them and go to the screen directly! We got our favourite seats again and watched it fill up slowly. At 10.45 there was barely anyone in but by 11am the place was heaving. Luckily there were trailers until 11.10am, and the usherette was very attentive, pointing people exactly to the few remaining seats.

I loved the film even more the second time round. I understood the accent much more even though Constantine was still very hard to understand, and it was full of "baah" (for bye) and "y'all"'s. I could also concentrate on it much more as there were hardly any toilet breaks by anyone.

It is true what was said in the Q&A that the men were basically side-lined in this story. They barely got a look-in or many lines, except Johnny Foote, who turned out to be a good'un, thank God.
[spoiler]I wiped a tear away when the told Minny that she got a job here for the rest of her life if she wanted it.[/spoiler]
They just didn't seem to feel important to the story, and Minny's violent husband wasn't even shown.

I really felt for dizzy but gold-hearted Celia and I thought her cheque to "Two Slice Hilly" was a hilarious revenge. Jessica Chastain is a revelation and seems to pop up everwhere these days. We saw a trailer for a film called "Take Shelter" with her in it before this one started.

"You is kind, you is smart, you is important."

9/10

[cliveas]

I'm sure that pretty much everything to say will have already been said about this film here. Very simply this is an excellent, powerful film. If you haven't seen it, then do so. If necessary p*y!

[missgotty]

I saw The Help yesterday at Brixton Picturehouse. I was interested in seeing the film after reading the book recently.

I've never been to the Brixton Ritzy before and was a little annoyed that the cinema delayed the showing originally 11am till about 11.30am, as the steward kept scouting for free seats and letting people in until all the seats were full. But then lots of people came late and it would have been even more disruptive with them climbing over people in the dark during the film.

Although it was a decent account of the storyline I thought it missed out some of the character and important points in the book, especially the ending. But thats to be expected I guess with the film version. All in all I enjoyed the film but I would recommend reading the book aswell.

[Ms Thrifty]

One thing I forgot to say (and which again, may be explained in or different from the book) is that I did find it slightly unconvincing that ALL the wives were so young and the same age - likewise the few husbands we saw - and ALL the houses so lavish. Valda has pointed out before that people in films seem to inhabit properties completely out of proportion to their circumstances but in this case we didn't know the source of their wealth. I know the main wives were supposed to be Skeeter's contemporaries but what about the rest? And did all the husbands have good jobs or inherited wealth?

[Beate]

I just thought they all had rich husbands and were the equivalent of today's ladies who lunch and have nannies.
What surprised me much more was the amount of food Celia Foote put on the table when there was only 3 of them! I do hope she gave Minny a ginormous goody bag home for her 17 children or however many she has!

[Locky_football]

Has anyone been able to apply for tickets for The Help on the NatWest website? I registered last week and just logged in but I can't access the list of cinemas.

[steve9872]

The list was up for about 20 minutes. The site was overloaded so they took it down again. It should be back up again later.

[evilzadi]

I think there were some problems, but might be sorted now. What server are you using? It might be worth a try to use different ones, as that can be a problem sometimes.