The Butler

If you we grading this film purely on Forrest Whitaker's wonderfully nuanced, subdued performance then it would be at least an 8. Unfortunately, nearly every other aspect of The Butler, from the writing, to the directing, to most of the other performances, just don't work. The script, based on a true story, is one giant, liberty-taking mess. It flat out invents many of the the film's more powerful dramatic moments, so much so that I'm shocked they felt comfortable continuing to use the "based on true story" tagline, for the majority clearly is not. Director Lee Daniels doesn't seem to know how to stage correctly, any of the scenes other than the Butler's homelife. The whole endeavor has a air of fanciful, sub par re-creation that can never truly be taken seriously. This is further compounded by the gimmick casting of the various Presidents, of which only John Cusack as Nixon comes out unscathed. Though Marsden absolutely nails JFK's accent. The rest range from humorous to abhorrent and basically torpedo the entire film. A film that will be enjoyed by many people without prior knowledge of history nor discriminating taste for authentic, fact based storytelling. For anyone interested in those things, as well as an honest portrayal of racial struggle "12 Years a Slave" will assuredly put The Butler to shame.