The Butler (October 2013)

Official Australian release date: 31/10/13. Viewed: 22/10/13.

Director: Lee Daniels
Actors: Forest Whitaker, Oprah Winfrey, David Oyelowo, Cuba Gooding Jr., Lenny Kravitz
Genre: Drama
Rating: M.

I can see why people are comparing ‘The Butler’ to ‘Forrest Gump’ – it does trace a lot of American history from the last 60 years, but it’s not an alternative history, it’s just told from one man’s perspective from his unique position within the White House.

The best part of this film is the cast – it is stacked and it’s fun to see which president will be played by which actor. You have to bear in mind that Cecil (Whitaker) served under seven different U.S. presidents, played by (you’ll have to guess who portrays each president) John Cusack, James Marsden, Alan Rickman (yes, even though he’s British), Liev Schreiber and Robin Williams – some very interesting choices. It’s also odd to see Oprah, Mariah Carey and Lenny Kravitz acting, although they don’t do too bad a job.

The meat of the story is obviously the civil rights movement in the U.S. in the 50’s–70’s (as told through one family's struggles) and it is truly shocking and confronting to see some genuine footage of how black people were treated in the South at that time. I can barely comprehend how or why anyone would want or feel the need to treat another human like that – or that the world used to discriminate against you if you were black, female or homosexual. Hopefully there’s no such prejudices left anywhere in the next 20 years.

Overall: Good biopic and covers some interesting history, but it’s just missing a little something to make it truly memorable.

Gav's Rating: 3.5 stars.