The Butler

As an examination of the Civil Rights movement, The Butler is effective enough, but constantly is sidetracked by distracting celebrity cameos appearing as different U.S. Presidents.  Where the movie finds its real strength (and what ultimately won me over), was its depiction of the central father and son relationship, and the turmoil it endures as the decades and famous American events pass by.  The movie's heart ultimately beats whatever odd casting decisions the movie may throw at us.

Loosely based on the life of Eugene Allen, an actual butler who served at the White House under eight different Presidents, The Butler tells the story of Cecil Gaines, who starts the film off as a small boy working on a Southern Plantation in the 1920s.  After watching one of the cruel owners of the Plantation have his way with Cecil's mom and shooting his father down right there in the cotton fields, Cecil is invited by house matriarch, Annabelle (Vanessa Redgrave), to work inside the house instead.  As an adult (now played by Forest Whitaker, in a great performance), Cecil leaves the Plantation and gets a job at a luxury hotel in Washington D.C., where he learns how to anticipate the needs of the guests.  He is discovered by someone who works at the White House who becomes so impressed with the service Cecil provides that he offers him a job as one of the President's personal butlers.

As Cecil serves in the White House, working for every President between Eisenhower (Robin Williams) to Reagan (Alan Rickman), he also tries to keep order in his increasingly turbulent home.  His wife, Gloria (Oprah Winfrey) resents all the time he spends on his job, and turns to drinking, as well as possibly the company of another man (Terrance Howard).  And of his two sons, one chooses to serve his country in Vietnam, while the other, eldest son Louis (David Oyelowo), goes to college, and becomes involved in the Civil Rights movement.  Through his son's eyes, we witness peaceful protests, lynchings and beatings of blacks demanding equal rights, and ultimately, the radicalization of the movement, leading to Louis' involvement in the Black Panthers.  The rift that grows between father and son expands over the decades, until both men have grown so far apart, they're not even part of their lives anymore.

It's been widely reported that much of what happens within the film was highly dramatized and is essentially fiction, except for the scenes within the White House.   It would certainly seem that screenwriter Danny Strong was certainly more interested in the fabrication rather than the facts, as the scenes within the White House don't hold up as well.  They're not bad in theory, or how they've been written.  It's the annoying stunt casting that took me out of these scenes.  Each of the Presidents Cecil works for is played by a celebrity name actor, and these range from the adequate (James Marsden as Kennedy), to the downright baffling (John Cusack as Richard Nixon.) I don't exactly require an exact replica of a political figure in my movies.  Heck, I remember the great performance Frank Langella gave as Richard Nixon in Frost/Nixon, and he looked nothing like the guy!  But seeing Cusack as Nixon not only takes us completely out of the movie by not looking like him, it's just a generally bad performance all around.  In the history of bad casting choices to play historical figures, Cusack as Nixon ranks right up there with John Wayne playing Genghis Khan in The Conqueror.

What ultimately saves The Butler from any missteps that occur within the White House scenes are the scenes that take place within Cecil's home.  There is the subplot concerning his wife, Gloria, and how she feels unappreciated by her husband.  This is effective, and features a great performance by Winfrey.  However, the real drama is delivered in the relationship between Cecil and his son, Louis.  They are men who were raised in different ideals.  Cecil believes in not causing trouble, and simply working hard, having been a servant most of his life.  His son, on the other hand, wants to take a stand, and be a part of different movements.  This leads to him being incarcerated in prison numerous times over the decades the film covers, and Cecil becoming increasingly frustrated with his son's actions.  After losing his other son to war, Cecil becomes even more distant to Louis, until the two are no longer talking.  This depiction of a family being effected by the Civil Rights Movements may be somewhat formulaic, but it rings true, and hits all the right notes with its performances.

It's actually the lead performance by Forest Whitaker that carries the entire film.  He brings a quiet elegance, as well as quite a bit of emotional power in some of his more confrontational scenes with David Oyelowo, playing Louis.  Even when Whitaker is hidden underneath some effective old age make up during his later scenes, he still conveys the right emotions, and doesn't let his performance get lost amongst the latex he's forced to wear.  There's been some Awards talk about the film, and while I personally don't think the film itself is quite strong enough to be remembered come Oscar time, I do hope that Whitaker at least gets a mention.  This is some of his best work in a while, and it deserves the recognition and buzz that it has been building.

The Butler really is a movie in two parts - One covers the changing politics within the White House over the passing decades, while the other focuses on a home that becomes divided by a national movement.  Had the script just focused on the stuff at home, or maybe just not gone with the stunt casting approach when it came to depicting the Presidents, this would have been a much better movie.  As it is, there's still more than enough here to recommend, especially when it comes to the lead performances. 

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