Gaub

Have I ever seen a movie in which males mattered less, apart from feminist/lesbian niche products like "Better Than Chocolate"? When I read Kathryn Stockett's book I thought that its description of an all-female world would thwart its straightforward conversion into a screenplay. I was mistaken. In fact, the males in the book were still slightly more prominent, especially Minnie's abusive husband Leroy. In the film, he is never seen at all, although to some extent he remains a menacing presence. And the senator in the book, an old Southerner who to the dismay of some of his guests suggests that the days of Jim Crow are over, is completely omitted.

Leroy's absence obviously softens the film. Same goes for the rewriting of the character of Mrs. Phelan; her "conversion" to post-segregation mores makes her more likable for today's audiences (Klansmen apart). These changes turn the film into a typical feel-good movie. I think it will stand the test of time, both in itself and as a adaptation of a novel; whether critics will come to like it one day is a different matter.

On a different note, if you are a foreign speaker and naturalized Midwesterner, you will have some trouble understanding the black slang and even the speech of some of the white characters.

I largely agree with what others have said here. But there is one flaw that nobody seems to have noticed: not one game of chess in this movie ends with a draw. As everybody with some knowledge of the game is aware of, draws are the rule among advanced players of chess, so a tournament such as the one shown in the movie that works by elimination (quarterfinals, semifinals, final), with only one game between a pair of contestants, is simply not realistic. (The tie could be broken through a game of fast chess, but this is not shown either.) It goes without saying that the whole dramaturgy of the movie would be significantly altered by the sheer possibility of draws. To sum it up, I consider chess a poor choice for communicating the message of this movie. Choose a game that does not permit draws and the problem is solved--although then the somewhat heavy handed symbolism of the queen as the strongest piece would have to be sacrificed.

A great comedy with some minor flaws evenly distributed over the entire length of the film. What fascinated me more than the characters and the action, however, was the locale. Is that really Los Angeles? I wondered every other minute. I have seen downtown L.A., but I have never seen it like that in a movie. All clichés of Southern California are avoided, even in the wedding scene that probably takes place in Santa Barbara (given the train ride and its direction). No beaches, no athletic bodies in sexy outfits, no suntans, hardly any palm trees. Even the final scene, though representing the quintessential cliché happy ending and featuring the only female of outstanding beauty, looks unfamiliar because of its setting in that vintage office building. There is something New-Yorkish about this movie. Some have likened it to Woody Allen, maybe for a reason, but Tom is not really a Woody Allen character--he makes no reference to the Nazis, for instance, and if he is Jewish, it does not matter.