Movie Review: "Lee Daniels' The Butler"

The story of Cecil Gaines, inspired by the life of Eugene Allen, is truly extraordinary. Witnessing the entirety of the Civil Rights movement while serving five different Presidents, Lee Daniels' The Butler is a portrait of how far African American men and women have come over the past 80 years, depicting the many horrors they had to experience as well as the many different ways that brave men and women tried to overcome these horrors and fight for their rights. It's both an amazing story- and one that is bound to court major attention from the Academy. The problem is that Lee Daniels, screenwriter Danny Strong, and the film's forty producers seemed to be more concerned with preparing their Oscar speeches then they were with depicting this story in the best way possible.

The Academy Awards are sort of like a necessary evil for film lovers- they may often disagree with them, and will argue that the awards don't actually mean much in the long run (especially if they don't like the films that win), but it's hard to not get swept up in the season. And while almost any film would be happy with taking home an award come the big night, it's easy to tell which films fall into the category of "Oscar bait", something which The Butler most definitely does. You can almost hear the cast and crew begging for attention from Academy voters. Every scene is stuffed with melodramatic, manipulative emotional beats and brims with a sense of self entitlement. Whenever a historical event takes place or significant figure walks on screen, the actors practically wink at the audience, trying their hardest to ensure that the audience understands how important that particular scene is. Yes, Lee Daniels' historical drama is anything but subtle in its intentions. This movie wants some serious attention on the evening of March 2nd.

Thankfully, the historical events depicted in the film are considerably interesting. Between the evolution of the Civil Rights movement, the assassination of both JFK and Martin Luther King Jr., the Vietnam War, leading all the way up to the election of Barack Obama, some of the most interesting and influential historical events in American history are depicted over the course of the film's runtime. The fact that these events are, in fact, interesting is the movie's saving grace. The way the film depicts these scenes- in the plainest, safest way possible- doesn't help make these scenes all that memorable, but it's at least enough to hold the audiences' attention for two and a half hours.

I think a major reason these scenes feel so sanitized is that Lee Daniels didn't have any creative control. While I'm not necessarily a fan of his wild and unhinged directorial style, The Butler feels as if it's been directed by a studio executive trying to make a film appealing for the lowest common denominators. With dirty jokes being censored like the film was being edited for television and the movie's darker moments being largely glossed over, Lee Daniels' trademark edginess is almost entirely absent. The only sequence with his stamp clearly visible on the screen is when Cecil's son, Louis (David Oyelowo) takes part in a sit-in- a scene that is easily the highlight of the film. Powerful, suspenseful, dramatic and brilliantly edited, it's the only sequence in the film that feels dramatic and doesn't seem to be begging for attention. If only more of the film was like that.

And while much has been made of the A-list actors playing Presidents and First Ladies, these scenes are largely uninteresting and surprisingly distracting. Seeing Robin Williams, John Cusack and Jane Fonda take on these historical figures only to appear for a few minutes on screen prevents these moments from carrying any dramatic weight. And while the actors all inhabit their roles well, they really only feel like imitations- not performances. It's almost as if you're witnessing the most expensive, politically minded Halloween party that only respected actors have been invited to.

In fact, the only performer that truly impressed me was none other than Oprah Winfrey. When an actor has a larger-than-life public persona, it's typically hard to separate them from their character- but Oprah manages to disappear into the role to the best of her ability. While virtually every one of her scenes feels like a potential Oscar reel, Winfrey dominates the material. She embraces her character, good qualities and bad, and manages to be dramatic without soaring over the top. Her best moments, to no surprise, are those in which she abandons her most popular qualities. There's an excellent moment where Winfrey, while drunk, attacks her husband's work ethic, the nation's obsession with Jackie Kennedy and perfectly embodies the loneliness her character feels. Even in her most over the top scene, when she slaps her rebellious son for disrespecting his father's political views- a scene that will no doubt be played to accompany her name on Oscar night- she manages to overcome the hokey material and deliver a powerful performance. While Forrest Whitaker is fine and David Oyelowo impresses throughout, it is Winfrey who runs away with the whole film.

But outside of Winfrey's performance (and some impressive make up) the film never really feels as powerful as it should be. In the process of trying to reap Oscars the film has neutered itself, depicting every single event in the life of Cecil Gaines in the tamest way possible. Compared to Lee Daniels' Precious, a film that bravely depicted the horrors of child sexual abuse, as well as his last film, The Paperboy, which showcased Nicole Kidman peeing on Zac Efron's face, The Butler comes off as a TV edited version of what could have been an excellent film. While the movie proudly displays its director's name in the title, Daniels really feels like a director for hire, forced to direct the film in a way that's safe and easily accessible. While the movie gets a mild recommendation on the grounds that it's entertaining and a showcase for one of the best performances of the year so far, Lee Daniels' The Butler depicts a fascinating story in the least interesting way possible.