Lee Daniels' The Butler

Abbey and I saw a pretty good movie Friday night. I love anything historical, and while this wasn't the best I've ever seen, the history of the Civil Rights Movement through the perspective of one family was a piece of the American puzzle I've never witnessed quite like this before.

Cecil Gaines served as a White House butler to every president from Eisenhower to Reagan. Just stop and think about the history he observed while working there. Integration of public schools, the Freedom Riders, voting rights, the assassinations of JFK, MLK, Jr. and RFK, Vietnam, Watergate and on and on and on. The film skims over the Ford and Carter years, so I thought there might have originally been a book, but after some research it seems the screenplay was based on The Washington Post article entitled, "A Butler Well Served by This Election". Too bad, I would have like to read a more in depth account.

And for me, that was the major flaw of the film. There are many solid performances like those of Forest Whitaker, Oprah Winfrey, Cuba Gooding, Jr., Lenny Kravitz, and David Oyelowo but I kept feeling like there was too much content to cover, so each era was briefly touched upon. It was just enough to make me want more. Some of the presidential performances left me curiously wondering how they picked them. For instance, my beloved Professor Snape and Colonel Brandon (Alan Rickman) playing Ronald Reagan? James Marsden as JFK? But in the long run, they all worked out well. Liev Schreiber as LBJ was the stand out for me and I couldn't help but smile at the one-time demonized liberal Jane Fonda impressively playing Nancy Reagan.

So overall, I came away with a mixed rating. I give it a B+...but if it would have been an hour longer...I think I could have easily given it an A-. Whether you see it now or wait for Redbox, if you live in the U.S....see it. This is your history and the attitudes and devastation of the '60s still affect us to this day. Taking a few hours to understand the path that others have trod just might open up some compassion and mercy from the far reaches of your heart. A little more understanding never hurt anybody.