Okay, as I said, it's been a while since the glow of the silver screen has found me in Majestic Theater movie seats. It's good to be back taking in a little bit of junk food and a lot of motion pictures in my favorite Silver Spring film palace (sorry, AFI Silver).
I finally caught up with "The Butler" yesterday, Lee Daniels' latest effort. To be honest, I have to say that one of the reasons it took me so long to check out this movie, was that I couldn't get through the long lines of hype surrounding it. What I mean by that is that usually when people say something is too good to be true, there's a catch. That was my feeling going into the theater. However, that was far from my feeling coming out of it. I have to say, I couldn't have been more wrong about the movie.
The Good and Bad: This biopic, based on the life of White House butler Cecil Gaines is impressive. For the two people out there who have not see the film, I highly recommend it. For the masses who have seen it, I suggest you check it out again, and bring a friend. Forest Whitaker, who plays the title character, gives a brilliant, Oscar worthy, performance. Oprah Winfrey's talent also shines. As a matter of fact, the entire cast is astonishingly good: Robin Williams, Alan Rickman, Terrence Howard, Cuba Gooding, Jr., Jane Fonda, Lenny Kravitz, David Oyelowo and many more.
"The Butler" is equal parts a story about the life of Cecil Gaines as it is a must see history lesson about the Civil Rights Movement in America. That lesson gives glimpses into the White House life of presidents Dwight D. Eisenhower to Ronald Reagan (although Jimmy Carter is curiously absent). Whitaker plays Cecil with great dignity and loads of emotion. All of that emotion feels real. There are instances in the film where the violence of America's racism is put on display with little filtering. Those instances make the movie significant--and relatively speaking, unique--in American film-making.
That said, "The Butler" isn't perfect. As is the case with most Hollywood films, it still distorts black history, to some degree. This is especially true as it characterizes the Black Panthers as crude, crass, terrorists (which was not the case). I am still waiting for a film that tells their story with fairness. That point aside, I understand what Daniels was trying to celebrate the theme of non-violence in this film. I can't come down on him too heavily for that.
The most important question: Is it a good film? Absolutely. It's a great film that is destined to be a classic.
The Rating: On a scale from 1 to 5 where 5 is phenomenal, "The Butler" gets a 4.5.
mikej
