First of all, you may wonder why it’s
titled “Lee Daniels’ The Butler” instead of just “The Butler.” Evidently Warner
Brothers claimed they owned the rights to a 1916 silent film entitled “The
Butler.” Seems like a stretch to me that
the two might be confused but, hey, it turned out good for Lee Daniels, the
director.
This movie tells the story of black
butler, Cecil Gains played by Forest Whitaker, who served eight presidents in
the White House. The story was inspired by Eugene Allen, the real White House
butler who served throughout the civil rights era as well as during Vietnam. He
died in 2010. The movie does an excellent job of showing what it must have been
like during the civil rights movement from an African-American point of view.The huge back story of this film is the relationship between Cecil and his son, Louis. While father is keeping quiet as he serves a master he may not agree with, the son goes the Black Panther route against oppression. This conflict between the two, which runs the entire length of the film, is the best story being told and, in the end, both are able to see each other’s side of the issue.
The following stars appear in the
film: Mariah Carrey, Vanessa Redgrave,
Oprah Winfrey (as Cecil’s wife), Terrence Howard, Cuba Gooding Jr., Lenny
Kravitz, Robin Williams, John Cusack, Minka Kelly Live Schreiber, Alan Rickman,
Clarence Williams III and Jane Fonda (who, ironically plays the arch enemy of
her real life Hanoi persona, Nancy Reagan). Whitaker and Gooding and Howard
gave excellent performances but most of the rest detracted from the movie.
Instead of paying attention, I was dissecting Robin Williams as Eisenhower, or
wondering why Lenny Kravitz had been chosen to play just another butler or how
Oprah, an avid non-smoker, couldn’t have been given a prop she could inhale, or
maybe she didn’t remember how to
inhale. Anyway, she smokes throughout the film and is accompanied by a portable
oxygen tank toward the end but we never see the smoke go anywhere
other than just in her mouth.
I found “Lee Daniels’ The Butler” a
little boring and, overall, an excellent opportunity to make a highly
entertaining movie was squandered on big names and a predictable storyline.
With the exception of a few of the freedom rider scenes of violence, I didn’t
feel it was as gut wrenching and evocative as billed. Without Whitaker playing
the title role, this film would have been a complete waste.
If you’re like me and want to get in
on something big in the beginning, go and see it now, so you can at least say you've seen it. On the other hand, now
that I’ve been there, I can encourage you to stay outdoors in the sunshine and
wait for it to come out on video.
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| Two of five possible ticket stubs
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