Member Post by Meredith Crilly

The Academy Awards, an awards ceremony that recognizes the best in film, is an annual show that is known for choosing excellent films and actors to recognize. The show has many categories ranging from acting to design. The most exciting part of the Academy Awards is the best film category. Judges look at all of the elements of a film and choose the best overall film. The films this year are all excellent movies and very entertaining as well. The silent film The Artist is a favourite among critics, and the child's film Hugo is also a frontrunner for the best film award. However, even though these films offer competition, the best choice is The Help.

The Help, a film based on a book, takes place in the south during the 1960s civil rights movement. A young woman Skeeter from a wealthy family is one of the few women in her community that is not yet married, choosing to focus on a journalism career instead. Just having returned from college with a greater perspective on the world, Skeeter sees the inequalities in society, especially with the African American women that are employed by most families. These women are responsible for running the homes and raising the children of white women but are treated poorly and with discrimination. Skeeter reaches out to several of the maids and asks them to help her write a book about their experiences. The film focuses on the relationships between two races that are incredibly integrated but also separate.

What makes The Help an outstanding movie is the focus on every detail. The dialogue is witty and entertaining. The actors do an amazing job and have been cast well for their roles. The costume design was fantastic and deserves an award just for that aspect of the play. Having watched the movie several times, there are very few if any flaws in the film and the team of cast and crew worked together to make an amazing film.

The film also appeals to a large audience. Based on a true story, the racial discrimination of the 1960s is not far in the past and many people alive today remember civil rights movement vividly. The story of The Help is not a made up tale, but an actual and true rendering of African American women and their daily lives and struggles. The film does not try to make the situation seem better or worse than it was, and tells their stories in a truthful and sometimes painfully honest way.

While not having seen every movie nominated for best picture, The Help is a timeless and excellent film that should be awarded best film of the year. It is a wonderful adaptation of a book that shares the history of the United States during a crucial time. Audiences can't help but be drawn into the character's lives and stories. The filming of the film was excellent and appropriate for most audiences. While the awards are not yet known, The Help is a front runner for many awards this season.

• Release Date: August 10, 2011
• Studio: DreamWorks (Disney)
• Genre: Drama, Adaptation
• Director: Tate Taylor
• Screenwriter: Tate Taylor
• Official Website: TheHelpMovie.com
• Starring: Emma Stone, Viola Davis, Octavia Spencer, Bryce Dallas Howard, Ahna O’Reilley, Jessica Chastain, Allison Janney, Sissy Spaceck, Chris Lowell, Mike Vogel, Cicely Tyson
• Running Time: 2 hrs. 17 min.
• MPAA Rating: (PG-13) for thematic material.

Nominations 84th Academy Awards, February 26, 2012: