The Book is Always Better than the Movie: "The Help"

After some deliberation, I went to a matinee showing of the movie version of "The Help" on Labor Day with my wife and daughter. Having read Kathryn Stockett's book, I fully expected that the movie wouldn't be as involving or moving. However, it came pretty close.The casting was very good, perfect shooting locations, and the script was literate with some great dialogue and well done set pieces, some wonderful humor, and for the most part it stuck to the story and kept its heart intact.Viola Davis and Octavia Spencer were well cast as the two main black characters, Aibilene and Minny. Emma Stone was competent as the third lead, Skeeter; Bryce Dallas Howard was fine if a little over-the-top as Hilly. I enjoyed seeing other actors in minor roles: Brian Kerwin as Skeeter's father, Sissy Spacek as Miz Walters, Leslie Jordan as the newspaper's editor, Mary Steenburgen as Skeeter's New York book editor, etc. My quibbles with the film, as with any book made into film, always concern why certain changes were made, and that's just my nature. I felt the story had been softened somewhat, just didn't have as much of an edge to it as the book; the huge sense of fear these women had of being discovered was only hinted at; another concerned the character change in Skeeter's mother, and another was the way the relationship between Skeeter and Stuart was handled. However, I only question these because I only recently read the novel, those who have not read it or read it ages ago may not have problems with these things. I would still recommend the film as an interesting depiction of the South on the cusp of far-reaching changes, with characters either struggling to resist those changes or to embrace them and grow. Definitely I will remember the hilarious chocolate pie incident in both the book and movie!