Lee Daniels’ movie gives good story, but large plot gaps.
“Lee Daniels’ The Butler,” is based on the true story of Cecil Gaines (Forest Whitaker), the African-American butler who served in the White House for 34 years. The movie chronicles his life starting from his early days in a cotton field in Georgia where he witnessed horrible acts inflicted on his family, to his time in a plantation house learning to be a servant, until he works his way to a job in the White House serving presidents Dwight D. Eisenhower (Robin Williams) and Ronald Reagan (Alan Rickman).
His family life, which is largely fictionalized for the movie, is shown as much as Cecil working at the White House. His wife, Gloria (Oprah Winfrey), battles alcoholism and the frequent absence of her husband, whose job keeps him away from the family often. In actuality, his wife never battled with addiction.
There are some quite powerful and stirring scenes throughout the movie, but there are just as many, and probably more, scenes that ring false and too earnest. The fact that great liberties were taken with Cecil’s real life (the real man is actually named Eugene Allen) does not really matter because the movie already feels crafted and structured to tell the life story of a man through his employment at the White House, which parallels nicely with the Civil Rights Movement.
It checks off dramatic boxes and manipulates the audience to tell a story about the fight for racial equality, not to tell a factually true biography. Their eldest son, Louis (David Oyelowo, “The Help,” “Lincoln”), is a character completely created for the film. I did not know this going into the movie, and now that I know, it does not really change my opinion of the movie.
The biggest problem with the movie is that major, talented actors play well-known historical figures for five or ten minutes. One sits, squinting, then staring at Robin Williams, trying to convince himself that he looks sort of like Eisenhower. Then, he is gone from the movie without an explanation. The audience never gets used to the actors playing such recognizable American leaders. Alan Rickman looks startlingly similar to Reagan, but his voice is too deep, slow and self conscious. What is the point in casting Jane Fonda as Nancy Reagan for one scene? There is some thrill in seeing a die-hard, A-list celebrity liberal playing the wife of such a beloved conservative. On the other hand, it would be like Ted Nugent playing Bobby Kennedy, if Nugent had any talent.
“The Butler” is a long movie that covers many years of American history, but it feels rushed at the same time. There are some strong performances and moving moments, but it could have used less overbearing music, sentimentalizing, and fake noses and wigs.