Inspiring memorable piece that lifts up the human spirit that chronicles the 20th Century Civil Rights movement told through the eyes a White House Butler. Even though The Butler is shown in a Forest Gump-like fashion with various Presidential figure cameos, what makes this film work is that it shares the different worldviews of a father and son during the turbulent times of the civil rights uprising from the early 50s to 80s
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The beginning scenes set the tone in a hurry with effectiveness during the late 20s towards the end of the slave trade involving cotton pickers working on a estate. There we are introduced to these enslaved workers working for no wage at the tender mercy of their white landowners.
It was here that Cecil Gaines (Michael Rainey Jr) witnesses his father gunned down by their masters and is pulled out of the line of fire by Annabelle Westphal (Vanessa Redgrave) who suggests a new line of work for the young Cecil. While working on the estate Cecil (Aml Ameen) learns the fine art and etiquette of being a Butler practicing the art of silence and being able to anticipate a customers wants and needs.
Cecil's (Forest Whittaker) new career path later leads him to working as a Butler working for 8 Presidents from 1952 to 1986.
While working at The White House, Cecil's life at home is in shambles.
His wife Gloria (Oprah Winfrey), becomes a alcoholic to cope with the loss of Cecil not being at home.
His son Louis (David Oyelowo) uses the power of education to educate his mind to start engaging in civil rights activism. The activism path his son takes is brave but violent as he escapes various peace protests, a KKK assassination attempt involving the Freedom Bus, and many trips to a jail cell.
When his leader Dr. Martin Luther King (Nelsan Ellis) is gunned down he abandons any thought to think with his mind and uses bright force to take the fight to the white man in knuckling up with the Black Panther Party.
The Butler was loosely based on the story of Eugene Allen who actually worked as a Butler for the White House for 8 Presidents from 1952 - 1986.
During his tenure as a butler he rose to the highest position ever attained by the White House as a Maitre d'hotel before retiring in 1986.
The Irony though is the White House scenes are the least effective and it is in fact the rocky relationship between Cecil and his son that is the proverbial glue that propel's the story forward.
What makes for instant cinema magic is how each rip into each other with their own views on the black man's role in America. Cecil believes that a black man should rise from hate and oppression to make a better life for themselves and accept their role as it is. Louis although he follows by his father's strong work ethic he however believes in black equality where a colored person can walk, talk, and sit freely everywhere without fear of verbal or physical attacks because of his skin tone.
The White House scenes which should have been the scenes that gave us some insights into the President's views on the racial tension in the U.S. was lacking and offered nothing to the story. As a result we have a group of actors who neither convince us in their role and therefore divert attention from the strong scenes involving Cecil Gaines and his family.
The main cast however is strong and churns out some strong performances. Forest Whitaker plays his part as Cecil Gaines with one with dignity and maturity.
David Oyelowo who plays Cecil's son gives an effective performance of a rebellious son . While watching we can feel strong pride for his race burning from within plus his anger for his father's resentment in being ignorant to the racial tensions occurring throughout the U.S.
Even though Talk show extraordinaire Oprah Winfrey gets limited screen time as Cecil's wife her strong performances still add a lot of dynamic and energy in those crucial family scenes. Some critics may agree that she hasn't delivered this strong of a screen performance since The Color of Purple and I'm willing to go along on that one.
The Butler just like Brian Helgeland's 42 is another film that addresses themes of racism and segregation in connecting our growing diverse world to our country's violent past. It's another top historical film of the year that to see how the dynamics, viewpoints, and political landscape of the White House has changed from administration to a administration in dealing with these difficult issues of race related crimes. It's a powerful film that reminds us of how far we have come through the struggle for civil and voting rights for all black people. However, it leaves us with a chilling message that "those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it" .
FINAL RATING : 4/5
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