Lee Daniels' The Butler
Director: Lee Daniels
Cast: Forrest Whitaker, Oprah Winfrey, David Oleyowo, Cuba Gooding jr, Terrence Howard, Lenny Kravitz, Mariah Carey and John Cusack
Classification: PG 13
Running Time: 132minutes
Rating: ****
This has certainly been filmmaker Lee Daniels’ year. Although he had a powerful movie with The Paperboy, that did not stop him from releasing his classic The Butler which is definitely going to be a hit at the next Academy Awards showcase.
Let’s look at why this film works. The first thing Daniels got right (pay attention, Tyler Perry) is the casting. Whitaker is an acting genius who uses his droopy gaze effectively in any role. If you thought he was exceptional in The Last King of Scotland, which earned him an Oscar, then you will be surprised at what he still has to offer.
Starring as Cecil Gaines, a butler who worked in the White House for more than three decades, Whitaker takes viewers on an emotional journey about the transformation of American politics over the years. Through Gaines’ experiences we see the fight of Malcolm X for civil rights along with Dr Martin Luther King jr. We see the rise of the Black Panther Party and the 1968 Chicago riots that were sparked by the assassination of King jr.
The plot was inspired by the life of Eugene Allen, who worked as a butler in The White House for 32 years.
Although Howard and Gooding jr are big names in the film business, on this one they take a back seat and let all the glory rest on Whitaker. Gooding jr plays a butler too, one who looks up to Gaines. Howard plays a friend to the main character who is chasing after his buddy’s wife, Gloria Gaines, played by Winfrey.
She, too, might just get an Oscar mention for her role as the temperamental wife who has a love-hate relationship with her husband. From the chain-smoking to using words she’d never utter on her talk show, Winfrey shows that she has a lot of potential in the acting business.
Oleyowo and Cusack return to yet another Daniels film (they both starred in The Paperboy). It is almost like the Spike Lee situation in which the director retains his favourite actors on his projects.
The American story of segregation and the fights against it over the years could have been told in straight-forward manner, but that would almost be a documentary of a story we already know.
However, using the butler to tell the story adds a lot of emotion to it. He is working for the First Family, yet he lives a life of poverty and can barely afford a basic lifestyle. This shows just how crooked the US system was when it came to minorities.
There are tear-jerker moments throughout the film, but they are juxtaposed by comic relief.
In a nutshell, Lee Daniels’ The Butler tells a story of the struggles of black Americans right through to the Obama administration.
If you liked Django Unchained, The Colour Purple and Mandingo then you will like this.
String of turbulent, angsty films
RACE, violence, family, sex – heavy subject matter that makes great dramas but not exactly box-office winners.
But if you’re Lee Daniels, it would seem that’s the way to go.
The 53-year-old Pennsylvanian-born film director has carved out a successful career touching on those issues in films such as Precious, The Paperboy, Monster’s Ball and now
The Butler. Okay, he didn’t direct Monster’s Ball, but his production company, Lee Daniels Entertainment, got
off to a great start producing the Oscar-winning drama.
His own directorial debut was crime thriller Shadow Boxer (2006), starring Cuba Gooding jr, Helen Mirren and Mo’Nique, playing a character named Precious.
In 2008, Tennessee garnered mixed reviews but a lot of praise for Mariah Carey.
The Butler (2013) is the third time that Daniels directs Carey – she also pops up in Precious (2009) as a make-up-less social worker – and this time around, the reviews are more positive (see Munya Vomo’s review).
The Paperboy is on circuit in South Africa, another film that received a mixed reception, except for praise for Nicole Kidman’s performance. (Carey pops up on the soundtrack).
Daniels certainly seems to understand his deeply flawed characters, but his pacing is uneven, he is gratuitous in his use of violence and often goes over-the-top and down the side of the hill. Some of the projects he is working on next include a Janis Joplin biopic with Amy Adams, a gay action hero flick with Alex Pettyfer, and a family drama set in the world of hip hop. – Theresa Smith