Cubussoli Very very predictable, including the post credit scene !!!

Solemplex To me, this movie is perfection.

Kien Navarro Exactly the movie you think it is, but not the movie you want it to be.

Billy Ollie Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

HotToastyRag While Oprah Winfrey was busy touting her talents and plugging herself for an Oscar, the lead of The Butler, or fully known as Lee Daniels' The Butler, was practically ignored. I hate to break it to you, but the movie is not about Oprah—she's barely in it! It's loosely based on a true story, following one man's thirty-year servitude in the White House. Forest Whitaker is the lead, not the actress who plays his wife.Half of the film shows Forest Whitaker's personal life, from his early days on a cotton plantation to his son's participation in the Civil Rights movement, and a few scenes with his wife and friends. No offense to Oprah, David Oyelowo, Elijah Kelley, Mariah Carey, or Terrence Howard, but no one went to the theaters to see those parts of the film. They went to learn backstage dirt on Presidents Eisenhower, Kennedy, Nixon, Johnson, and Reagan! Just as it is in every miniseries or saga, the modern characters are infinitely less interesting than the historical ones, and The Butler is no different. If you're interested in a backstage view of the White House told from the servants' point of view, rent Backstairs at the White House. It's so much better.Now, to the presidents. Robin Williams plays Eisenhower, James Marsden plays Kennedy, Liev Shreiber plays Johnson, John Cusack plays Nixon, and Alan Rickman plays Reagan. I'll let you absorb those terrible casting choices for a minute. Minka Kelly plays First Lady Jackie Kennedy, and Jane Fonda plays First Lady Nancy Reagan, but they're really as ineffective at convincing the audience they're the historical figures as the actors who play their husbands are. The Butler is one giant debacle. It's a huge disappointment following an enormous amount of hype, and the scenes at the White House feel like they were written by a high school junior. The presidents are stereotyped by well-worn trivia, and when you're not rolling your eyes at the lack of imagination, you're laughing at the actors who never should have been cast.Oprah promoted her performance so much, I was expecting a reincarnation of Hamlet. She wrote article after article in her magazine about how it felt to return to acting after fifteen years. She smoked herbal cigarettes for weeks, so that her smoking would be convincing in the film. Lee Daniels worked her to the bone to get the best performance out of her, and the experience taught her so much about herself. Her part isn't any larger than one of the passing presidents, and her cigarettes were hardly a prominent feature of her scenes. If she was expecting an Oscar nomination, or God forbid a win, she should have spent less time promoting and more time acting.

xanthevilla Lee Daniels', the Butler, is an amazing film that includes the right amount of playful banter to make it a light-hearted civil rights film, rather than a bash on racial segregation. The cinematography of this movie helps speak to the audience, evoking the emotions felt in the actual times of the civil rights movement. The graininess of the movie's quality adds to the mood, where it makes us feel poor and insubstantial, almost like African-Americans back then. In my opinion, it does a very good job explaining what things were like back then, and how they evolved with new presidents. It is interesting to start the movie in the late 1800's and move throughout time up until the late 70's. This film teaches about bigotry in an entertaining, yet mellow way where it does not feel like a racial attack or mockumentary. Overall, I highly recommend this movie to anyone who likes documentaries but cannot stand the basic, boring commentated kind.

zkonedog If I were a history teacher in this day and age, my job when teaching the Civil Rights unit would be oh so simple...just cue up "The Butler".For a basic plot summary, this movie tells the story of Cecil Gaines (Forest Whitaker), who as a young slave learns the craft of serving. Eventually, after his service is noticed by a high-ranking official, Cecil becomes a butler at the White House, serving the Eisenhower-Reagan administrations. Along the way, Cecil's relationship with his wife Gloria (Oprah Winfrey) and son Louis (David Oyelowo) are the forces that truly define his life.As with all movies about such sensitive topics as civil rights, I was a bit worried going in that "The Butler" would be overly preachy. However, I quickly found that this type of filmmaking is far from that approach. Director Lee Daniels does indeed delve into some heavy issues, but he pretty much just lays out the situations and lets the viewers themselves decided what to believe. As with all truly great movies, this is a film about people, first and foremost, and their often complicated interactions with each other. Yes, civil rights and the White House is the backdrop, but the real strength is the relationships cultivated within it.The acting is also absolutely top-notch. Each character had a purpose and each actor was able to bring out that purpose in an emotionally form. For a period piece (though a rather long period), the acting and cinematography make you feel as if you are truly a part of the action. One chilling scene involving the KKK will have you almost physically uncomfortable.Overall, "The Butler" is one of the better movies I've seen in awhile. As I was leaving the theater, I was thinking deep thoughts and pondering the many messages it will leave kicking around in your brain.

blumdeluxe I love when movies have a story to tell and "The Butler" surely is one of those based on a biography worth being spread. The story of a honorable man, serving a discriminating nation with such loyalty that he almost loses his son over it is definitely touching and relatable.The film touches a lot of important questions, now more than ever, of how a nation defines itself and of who is to be part of political and public decision-making and civil rights.Unfortunately, while I liked how the movie tries to tell the simultaneity of historic events, I found it a bit stiff, especially when it came to the more personal parts concerning the family itself or the relationship between husband and wife. As prominent as the cast is, I am not always sure if the film really benefits from it.All in all it is a story worth telling and it raises important issues, therefore it's surely worth a watch. But there would have been even better potential in my eyes.