This time last week I was snuggled up with a group of girlie buddies for a private screening of the eagerly anticipated film adaptation of the best selling book The Help.
The last time I set foot in a cinema with a group of girls was to see Back to the Future. It was so long ago that everyone still thought that Michael J Fox was hot. He wasn't and we were really only there to check out boys but that's another story.
I'm a reader by nature and I'm never satisfied by a big screen portrayal of a book that I've read but as I hadn't started reading The Help I was a blank canvas and ready for the journey.
Set in Mississippi in the 1960's, The Help is essentially a tale of female friendship and the ability to come together to create change. Only things were pretty messed up in 1960's Mississippi. White children raised by black maids only to turn into their parents and continue and expand on their racist ways.
Skeeter (Emma Stone), saw things differently and on returning home from college, determined to be a writer, set about interviewing the black maids so that their stories could be told.
After a bit of cajoling the maids have a lot to say and despite the dark undertones of the main civil rights story, The Help manages to be a feel good movie.
If you liked Fried Green Tomatoes and Driving Miss Daisy you'll love this movie. If you like tales of hope, of good over evil you'll love this movie.
What I took away from it is that friendships really can conquer all and a reminder that revenge is always a dish best served cold.
The Help opens in the UK on October 26th. Go see it.
Disclosure :
Back to the Future was released in 1985. If you have 13 year old children DO NOT consider it OK to let them go to the movies with a group of their friends. Don't ask why - take my word...