The Butler

IMDB
First time viewed: Yes
Current Release: Yes
Watched With: Tyler

I think the full title is now "Lee Daniels' The Butler," as if it wasn't hard enough to be cynical about the film already. We have a fluffy, period spanning true story combining race relations and politics, made by an oscar darling, released by the Weinsteins and with a cast list of name actors a mile long, all in prosthetics doing impersonations of presidents. If that doesn't scream oscar bait, I don't know what does.

And really there's not much you can't gleam from the story that isn't in the trailer. Our main character feels so passive, by his very job description. He is witness to important things and lives through difficult times so it just feels more like an excuse to parade a series of historic events and ride on the emotional coattails they conjure. Sort of like Forrest Gump but without any good personal or emotional connective tissue.

Sure our butler has a homelife, that juxtaposes with the lives in the White House where he serves, and he has a wife and two kids that have some kind of dramatic storylines going on but it was nothing I hadn't seen done better before and the only pay-off is your typical father son estrangement, most everything else feels superfluous.

I know I'm being really cynical with this one but it didn't do anything for me. It felt ham-fisted an obvious.