So much for the backlash (see below post). The Help, the Civil Rights era comic drama adapted from the Kathryn Stockett novel of the same name, picked up more than $5.5 million at the box office on opening day, Wednesday.
The film, directed by Tate Taylor and starring Emma Stone, Octavia Spencer, and Viola Davis, has received generally positive reviews, with a few raves. It notched a 64 metascore at Metacritic, and a 73% Tomatometer rating at Rotten Tomatoes.
“Laughter, which is ladled on thick as gravy, proves to be the secret ingredient – turning what should be a feel-bad movie about those troubled times into a heart-warming surprise,” Betsy Sharkey wrote in the Los Angeles Times. Andrew O’Hehir, in his Salon review, said “The Help definitely worked on me as a consummate tear-jerker with a terrific cast, and it’s pretty much the summer’s only decent Hollywood drama.”
