Wednesday, August 24, 2011

Viola Davis is Fantastic

I just saw the movie The Help which I was dying to see since I read the book, which I loved.  The movie was very VERY good, and I'm not going to write a review because I can't really write reviews about movies that are actually good.  (Not that the X-Men movies aren't good, mind you. They are super, but for some reason, they beg for a review. Hmm, I don't really get the logic. Just go with it.)


What I really want to say here is that Viola Davis is brilliant.  I'm serious.  I don't usually rave about movie stars (unless they are put together like Hugh Jackman, know what I'm sayin'?) but she deserves a rave.
Her character in the movie is named Abilene and she is a maid for a snotty white lady in the sixties in Jackson, Mississippi.  (The perfect storm of bad jobs.)  I don't really know how to put in to words what makes her so great, except to say that when she's on the screen and she's smiling, I'm smiling.  When she's crying, I'm bawling.  When her character feels like she's been defeated and broken, I'm bawling.  When her character finally gets recognized for being brave and wonderful and she feels proud yet humbled, I'm bawling.   I guess what really makes her a great actress is her ability to make me bawl.  Hardly anyone can make me bawl.  (Especially since I've been on my post-partum medication.)  I'm like an emotional robot, except when Viola Davis is on the screen.  Then I'm feeling every single thing her character is feeling.  I hope someday she makes a movie about a woman who feels like being nice to strangers and getting a lot of work done.
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3 comments:

  1. UnknownAugust 24, 2011 at 8:10 AM

    I'm hoping to see this movie!

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  2. Dana McKibbage WaldbilligAugust 26, 2011 at 10:06 AM

    I just saw The Help with my mom, and we basically went through a box of kleenex. I read a review online that said her (Viola Davis, not my mom) most amazing gift is her facial expressiveness. It said some of her strongest moments are when she's NOT saying anything. I was paying attention to this during The Help, and it's so true. That explains your intense reaction ;-)
    Sarah, here's a nugget for you: Viola Davis had a tiny part in "Kate & Leopold": she was the police officer who told Hugh Jackman to "Pick up the poop!" and then wrote him a ticket because he refused. Hugh Jackman! and Viola Davis! and... poop.

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  3. AnneAugust 27, 2011 at 10:31 PM

    Wow...I just saw this movie and I'm just so... overwhelmed?? Speechless?? Loved loved loved it. I just felt good when I left the theater. It was not at all what I expected; thanks for the heads up on the emotional rollercoaster - brought lots of kleenex and used them all up. I hate them Southen' Bitches!

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