Emma Stone’s star meter has definitely been on the rise over the last couple of years, what with her turns in films like Zombieland and Easy A. The naturally-blonde starlet will be appearing in a handful of noteworthy titles this year alone, including an adaptation of the New York Times best-seller, The Help.
A trailer has been released for The Help, which stars Stone as Eugenia “Skeeter” Phelan, a young woman who sets out to shake things up in pre-Civil Rights movement Mississippi. Needless to say, the locals aren’t exactly enthused about her plans.
Here is an official synopsis for The Help:
Set in Mississippi during the 1960s, Skeeter (Stone) is a southern society girl who returns from college determined to become a writer, but turns her friends’ lives — and a small Mississippi town — upside down when she decides to interview the black women who have spent their lives taking care of prominent southern families. Aibileen (Oscar-nominee Viola Davis), Skeeter’s best friend’s housekeeper, is the first to open up — to the dismay of her friends in the tight-knit black community.
So The Help reads as a pretty conventional story about those that are underprivileged in society standing up for themselves – and all the (pardon the term) halabaloo that breaks out as a result. But could the film be more than just a pleasant if forgettable tale about prejudice?
Watch the trailer for The Help below and find out:
There are actually a number of things that I like about this trailer. Stone and Davis both make for very charismatic leading ladies; most everyone seems to be putting on a convincing (and thankfully not over-played) Southern accent; and while the ’60s-era production design may pale in comparison to the likes of Mad Men, its nonetheless admirable enough.
However, I won’t deny that The Help still looks like a made-for-regular-TV special about racism and social inequality in mid-2oth century America, complete with almost cartoonish villains and a story that’s painted in pretty broad strokes. There’s nothing inherently bad about that, and the film looks like the sort of picture you can safely take the whole family to see – but that doesn’t mean it appears to be all that memorable or interesting either.
And on a completely different note – how meta is to see former Gwen Stacy actress Bryce Dallas Howard lock horns with Stone, who is playing the new incarnation of Miss Stacy in The Amazing Spider-Man? Just thought I would mention that. 😉
The Help arrives in theaters this summer on August 12th. Will you be checking it out?
