The Help
Screened in August 2011
Director: Tate Taylor. Cast: Viola Davis, Emma Stone, Octavia Spencer, Bryce Dallas Howard, Jessica Chastain, Allison Janney, Ahna O'Reilly, Sissy Spacek, Chris Lowell, Cicely Tyson, Aunjanue Ellis, Mike Vogel, Mary Steenburgen, Leslie Jordan, David Oyelowo, Anna Camp, Roslyn Ruff, Nelsan Ellis, Ashley Johnson, LaChanze, Tarra Riggs, Eleanor Henry, Emma Henry, Dana Ivey, Brian Kerwin, Wes Chatham. Screenplay: Tate Taylor (based on the novel by Kathryn Stockett).
Twitter Capsule: Jim Crow is dead. Cheap style and specious plotting survive. Happily it'll take more 'n that to keep Viola Davis down.

Photo © 2011 Touchstone Pictures
Not yet reviewed in full. Grade: C+

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Academy Award Nominations and Winners:
Best Picture
Best Actress: Viola Davis
Best Supporting Actress: Jessica Chastain
★Best Supporting Actress: Octavia Spencer

Golden Globe Nominations and Winners:
Best Picture (Drama)
Best Actress (Drama): Viola Davis
Best Supporting Actress: Jessica Chastain
★Best Supporting Actress: Octavia Spencer
Best Original Song: "The Living Proof"

Other Awards:
Screen Actors Guild Awards: Best Actress (Davis); Best Supporting Actress (Spencer); Best Ensemble Performance
New York Film Critics Circle: Best Supporting Actress (Chastain; also cited for Take Shelter and The Tree of Life)
Los Angeles Film Critics Association: Best Supporting Actress (Chastain; also cited for Coriolanus, The Debt, Take Shelter, Texas Killing Fields, and The Tree of Life)
National Society of Film Critics: Best Supporting Actress (Chastain; also cited for Take Shelter and The Tree of Life)
National Board of Review: Best Ensemble Performance
British Academy Awards (BAFTAs): Best Supporting Actress (Spencer)
Satellite Awards: Best Actress (Davis); Best Ensemble Cast
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