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The Butler

The Butler: Underwhelming Adaptation of Remarkable True Story

  • Cuba Gooding Jr.David Oyelowo...
  • Drama
  • Lee Daniels
reviewed by
Marija Loncarevic
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The Butler: Underwhelming Adaptation of Remarkable True Story

Based on the source material from a 2008 Washington Post article written by Wil Haygood – A Butler Well Served by This Election – and scripted by Danny Strong, The Butler highlights the remarkable story of a White House butler serving during the peak of civil unrest in the US.  However, with director Lee Daniels at the helm, it never quite hits the spot.

Growing up in the cotton fields of the Deep South in the 1920’s, life for young Cecile Gaines (Rainey Jr.) wasn’t easy. After witnessing the murder of his father (Banner) and the rape of his mother (Carey), Cecile is taken off the field and reassigned to working as a house slave.

Hardened by prejudice and relentless racism, Cecil (Whitaker) moves to Washington DC and lands a job as a waiter at the Excelsior Hotel, before earning a position as the White House butler.

Working alongside Carter Wilson (Gooding Jr.) and James Holloway (Kravitz), Cecil quickly learns the ropes and keeps his focus firmly on the job. He first works under President Dwight D. Eisenhower (Williams) and goes on to serve JFK (Marsden), Lyndon B. Johnson (Schreiber), Richard Nixon (Cusack) and Ronald Regan (Alan Rickman), during which time he struggles to balance his identity as a proud African-American and his role at the White House.

Whitaker embodies Cecile with an air of quiet modesty and dignity, delivering some of the film’s most poignant and engaging moments. Unfortunately, his character is occasionally overshadowed by the revolving door of recognisable faces waddling in and out of the story. Cecil’s wife Gloria, played by Winfrey, takes some time in asserting herself as a significant character, whilst Howard’s role as a neighbour to the Gaines family fizzles out after a promising start.

All of the ruling Presidents, which draw brief appearances  from Williams, Marsden, Schreiber, Cusack and Rickman, never really offer any new dimensions to the story, although Rickman does manage to stand out with his rather charming portrayal of President Regan. 

The Butler’s biggest problem, however, lies with the way that the different timelines are incorporated into the story; the flow is inconsistent, repetitive and often very slow.

Melodramatic and overly eager to please, The Butler has good intentions. However, being one of the most anticipated movies of the year, it underwhelms and in many ways fails to capture the spirit of what is an endlessly interesting, true story.

Like This? Try

The Help (2011), The Color Purple (1985), Forrest Gump (1994)

360 Tip

The Butler has a total of 41 credited producers to its name; probably a world record for a single film.

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