The Help movie is a heartfelt tale of women working together against incredible odds towards a better life. This story is as old as time, the Southern black and white racial story so familiar to any seasoned moviegoer that it doesn’t feel there’s anything new that can be told. I certainly felt that way going into the movie theatre and nothing I saw onscreen has changed my mind.

The current Hollywood “it” girl Emma Stone plays the earnest and ambitious Skeeter, a product of somewhat liberal parents and a woman who places her career ahead of hearth and home despite societal expectations. When looking for a subject for a book deal, she decides to write an exposé about the help, the black domestic workers who cook and clean and raise babies on behalf of their white rich employers in her 60’s era small town. The odds are truly stacked against her that initially Skeeter has a hard time finding volunteers, made more difficult by the fear in the black community from the civil rights movement taking place at that moment. Only after a series of unfortunate (and hilarious) events does Skeeter’s project gain two willing participants: Aibileen (played nobly by Viola Davis) and Minny (long-time character actor Octavia Spencer).

The audience can expect one-note characters, with the exception of Celia, played competently by Jessica Chastain. Celia is a wonderful mixture of strength and vulnerability, at times reminded me of an equally wide-eyed Marilyn Monroe. I look forward to the scenes with her character only because compared to other scenes in the movie, her storyline was relatively less predictable.

Yeah, the predictive direction of the story prevented me from investing in the movie; the clunky transitions between the multiple story lines were also distracting. But in the end, the sensitive performances, the dramatic score, the beautiful sets and costumes saved this movie from becoming just another movie-of-the-week. This is not a movie that deeply questions. This is a feel-good movie that celebrates the sisterhood among women and their hard-fought victories and milestones.

There’s a lot of Oscar buzz around the actresses Davis and Spencer. The real gems though are the performances by veteran actors Sissy Spacek and Allison Janney who manage to steal the scene even in their much smaller roles.

Rating: A bona fide chick flick worth watching.