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theenthusiasticcinephile · 11 years

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Lee Daniels' The Butler

2 hours 12 minutes

Rated PG-13 (Some Violence and Disturbing Images, Language, Sexual Material, Thematic Elements and Smoking)

Directed by Lee Daniels

Starring Forest Whitaker, Oprah Winfrey, Mariah Carey, John Cusack, Jane Fonda, Cuba Gooding, Jr., Terrence Howard, Lenny Kravitz, James Marsden, David Oyelowo, Vanessa Redgrave, Alan Rickman, Liev Schreiber, Robin Williams, and Clarence Williams III

2.5 out of 4 stars

IN THEATERS NOW.

Lee Daniels' The Butler is a moving epic about the racial injustices of the US in the mid to late 20th century. As a history lesson, it's extraordinary. As a movie itself, it's a little flawed. I desperately want to love this movie because it means so well. The only thing I'm blaming is the script and absolutely nothing else. The movie (which Warner Bros. forcibly made it be changed to Lee Daniels' The Butler instead of The Butler because the studio claimed to have made a 1916 silent short movie with the same title...OH FOR GOD'S SAKE) is brilliantly acted, passionately made, and wildly educational for anyone who doesn't know a clue about US history. I always say that the script is the most important part of a movie. If it doesn't work, there's a problem. Writer Danny Strong is trying to tell us a complete biography of a man from the 50s to present day. That's a difficult task. Eventually, the aim of the story is bound to get lost.

There's just too much in The Butler (I mean, Lee Daniels' The Butler). Too many facts. Too many big name actors impersonating Presidents. Too much historical information instead of a story. Its protagonist acts like Forrest Gump and witnesses a whole bunch of historical events. Yet that's just the problem. He WITNESSES. He doesn't do anything (Forrest Gump, for example, participated in these events). The character isn't allowed to, I know, but this reason left me feeling unsatisfied and empty with the movie. We're simply given a history lesson instead of a complex character. This character, Cecil Gaines (Forest Whitaker), is based off a real-life man named Eugene Allen. Allen, who died three years ago, worked as a butler for the White House for 34 years. Therefore, he got to work for a ton of presidents and live through horrid racial events.

When we first see Cecil he's a boy working for an evil white man (Alex Pettyfer) on a cotton farm in the South. Life is treacherous. His mother (Mariah Carey) is raped and his father (David Banner) is shot and killed by the owner. It's there where the head matriarch (Vanessa Redgrave), who's nicer to blacks, teaches him domestic work. A few years pass and he leaves and gets other domestic jobs for snobby white racists. Flash-forward and Cecil is now living in D.C. with his cigarette-smoking/booze-drinking wife, Gloria (Oprah Winfrey), and their two boys. His life changes forever when he is offered a butler position at the White House under Dwight D. Eisenhower (Robin Williams). There he makes friends with fellow butlers Carter (Cuba Gooding, Jr.) and James (Lenny Kravitz). The number one rule is to not get involved with politics, particularly the growing civil rights one. Cecil's eldest son, Louis (David Oyelowo), disobeys that rule when he goes to college and joins the Freedom Riders with a pretty activist (Yaya Dacosta).

Louis's passion about ending racial injustice irks his father's indifferent stand. Cecil retains his job in the White House and gets to work for a load of presidents, from JFK (James Marsden) to Ronald Reagan (Alan Rickman). Historical events that occur during his life include the Little Rock Nine integration crisis, JFK and MLK Jr.'s assassinations, and the Vietnam War. So much racial injustice occurs and only his son gets to participate against it. The Butler is supposed to be a movie about endurance, yet it's Louis who seems to be enduring more than his father. I expected Cecil to influence the presidents he works for towards the historical events but he doesn't. He's just a witness and doesn't seem to "endure" anything, really. I get it I get it I get it, Allen was a black butler so he WASN'T ALLOWED to speak up. This just irritated me. I felt like I was watching a history channel special more than a fascinating character study. Strong's script starts off exploring Cecil's life but then changes gear and focuses on Louis too much.

The Butler also wastes a talented cast to portray Presidents and other historical figures only to disappear from the movie after two minutes. They may look like the icons in makeup but they add nothing to the movie. Each president Cecil meets has a different opinion on the racist system and his interactions with them are insignificant. Whitaker, one of the most underrated Best Actor winners of the century, is tremendous while Winfrey is excellent as his loving wife. The two do a fine job of making us believe they're husband and wife. Director Lee Daniels' motion picture is an inspiration to any nonwhite person in the world who's had to endure hardships. Many will leave the theater blown away. Me, I just felt unsatisfied. The events that occurred during Cecil's life felt more powerful than his actual life (or him alone as a character). I didn't leave the theater necessarily thinking "Wow. That Cecil was a strong, strong man."

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