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DVD Wholesale Quick Overview:

I read this book a few years ago and absolutely loved it. That’s why I made sure to see this film in its first opening days. I’ve seen some other film adaptations of books lately and have been disappointed. And so I must say that I was completely delighted with the film adaptation of “The Help”. Not only did it stay true to the book, it was so well cast that every character rang true. I laughed. I cried. And I felt real emotion throughout.

The story is set in Jackson, Mississippi in the early 1960’s. Emma Stone is cast as a young white college graduate who yearns to be taken seriously as a writer. Her first job is writing a column on cleaning house in the local paper and so she starts interviewing the African American women who work as maids in the homes of her friends. Immediately, her eyes are opened to the realities of their lives and decides to turn her knowledge into an eventual book.

Viola Davis is excellent in the role of Aibileen who gives the child she cares for an abundance of love and attention. Octavia Spencer is cast as Minnie, another maid with a strong personality who is full of grit and gumption. And Bryce Dally Howard is cast as Hilly, an obnoxious young white social-climbing woman who we all love to hate.

The plot moves swiftly and even though the film is 2-1/2 hours long, I was so caught up in it that I didn’t want it to end. Here was a snapshot in a time of racial prejudice and the exploitation of household help in a era that has hopefully passed into history. And yes, it also has its bittersweet comedic moments which made the film even more endearing. I loved this film. Don’t miss it.

– Rory

My husband and I watched this last night. I knew I would like it because I had read the book some time ago. At first he just thought it was another one of my nutty movies, but by the end he was enjoying it. The movie does follow along with the book fairly well, but I think there were some changes they made to make it fit into a standard movie length. It helps one understand the movie to have lived in the deep south during the period involved, whether one is black or white. It may be a little painful to blacks who did not already live through the era. I’m white, and we never were of the economic strata that had “help,” but as a small child I was already wide eyed at the segregation the adults in the family had to explain to me, and I was in high school when the first black students came to our school. There is enough humor in the book and movie to make it enjoyable. If even halfway inclined to do so, you should indeed see this movie.-Peggy Schilger

DVD Wholesale Main Features:

Actors: Emma Stone, Octavia Spencer, Jessica Chastain, Viola Davis, Bryce Dallas Howard
Directors: Tate Taylor
Format: Multiple Formats, Color, NTSC, Subtitled, Widescreen
Language: English (Dolby Digital 5.1), French (Dolby Digital 5.1), Spanish (Dolby Digital 5.1)
Subtitles: English, French, Spanish
Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only.)
Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
Number of discs: 1
Studio: Walt Disney Studios
DVD Release Date: December 6, 2011
Run Time: 146 minutes