Lee Daniels' The Butler

The story of Cecil Gaines is more about the relationship between a father and a son than it is about a butler serving through five presidencies in the White House. Loosely based on the life of Eugene Allen, Lee Daniels’ The Butler attempts to offer insight to the civil rights movement from the fifties up until the eighties. While Cecil Gaines (Forest Whitaker) and his son, Louis (David Oyelowo), don’t see eye to eye, they are fighting for the same cause, albeit through their own separate methods.

Cecil Gaines was born in a time where racism and segregation were the norm and equality was practically unheard of. Gaines worked his way up the ladder and into the White House in order to provide a comfortable life for his family; one that he himself didn’t have. Rather than attend college, though, Louis joins the civil rights movement in protest of the rampant racism and degradation occurring in the nation.

The Butler transitions frequently from these two contrasting points of view. As someone who is frequently in the company of the President of the United States, Cecil believes that equality will come from the pen and not from the sword. Meanwhile, Louis is taking a more active approach, participating in sit-ins and riding the Freedom Bus for change. They’re two sides to the same coin, and neither of them is wrong. As the picture gets larger and larger, though, the message begins to deteriorate.

The film attempts to do too much over the course of 132 minutes. It covers more than three decades and five presidencies of movements and events. There’s simply too much going on at times, and I would have liked to see Lee Daniels focus on a more precise period rather than going for a broader spectrum. He definitely manages to make it work in the film, but parts feel unfinished.

Major civil rights activists such as Martin Luther King, Jr. and Malcolm X are only briefly touched upon. There’s also this awkward romance/scandal between Gloria Gaines (Oprah Winfrey) and their family friend, Howard (Terrence Howard) that is only referenced in a few scattered scenes and then disappears never to be mentioned again.

Lee Daniels’ The Butler is one of the films where it’s difficult to separate fact from fiction and you wonder just exactly where the lines are drawn. It’s entertaining, and while it has its own fair share of dull moments too, don’t let that deter you from watching.