Entertainment : In Depth - The Help

Crowds have been good this week for “The Help.” If you have not yet cleared your schedule to catch this crowd pleaser – never fear! We’ve got it for a two-week run.

Playing for another seven days, “The Help” runs through Thursday, October 6, every evening at 7 p.m., and Monday, October 3 at 2 p.m.

Don’t take my word for it – ask your friends, family and neighbors. I’ve heard nothing but good comments in the lobby – this is an amazing movie. And, contrary to popular sentiment, “The Help” is not a chick flick.

Rated PG-13, with a running time of 146 minutes, this movie is not for our youngest viewers. However, parents, I encourage you to bring your middle school and high school students.

Set in Jackson, Mississippi, the story, based on Kathryn Stockett's bestseller, focuses on Skeeter Phelan (Emma Stone), a recent college graduate who comes home and finds she no longer fits. Aibileen Clark (Viola Davis) and Minny Jackson (Octavia Spencer) are African American maids in the employ of white women.

As she becomes aware, and angry, Skeeter convinces Aibileen and Minny to share their stories, which she develops into a book meant to shock and reveal.

These three actresses all deliver amazing performances, but Bryce Dallas Howard as Hilly Holbrook, Allison Janney (Skeeter’s mom), Sissy Spacek (Hilly’s mother), and Cicely Tyson as Constantine deserve special recognition, as well.

This movie is belly-laugh funny at times, uplifting, and heart-wrenching. A must-see, on par with “The Blind Side.”

HAWKEYE UPDATE

The Palace will NOT show the Iowa vs Penn State game on Saturday, October 8, due to the late game time.

OCTOBER

Following “The Help,” catch “Lion King in 3D,” “Contagion,” “Moneyball” and “Dolphin Tale in 3D.” The October schedule will be online and available for pick up at the theatre asap. It’s shaping up to be a fantastic fall at the movies!