'Lee Daniels' The Butler' is too ambitious but some moments hit home
鈥�Lee Daniels' The Butler鈥� 鈥� that鈥檚 the official title but we can just call it 鈥淭he Butler鈥� 鈥� is about Cecil Gaines (Forest Whitaker), a server at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. between 1957 and 1986.聽 His story is loosely based on the life of Eugene Allen, a White House butler who died in 2010. Cecil鈥檚 life spans his boyhood in the brutally segregated South to the election of President Obama. His wife, Gloria, played by Oprah Winfrey in her first dramatic role since 1998鈥檚 鈥淏eloved,鈥� stands by him through all the tumult 鈥� the Freedom Rides and the assassinations and race riots. Their son Louis (David Oyelowo) regards Cecil as an Uncle Tom and becomes radicalized in the Black Power movement. Gloria battles alcoholism. Throughout it all, amid much indignity, Cecil maintains his pride.
Ungainly and overly ambitious, 鈥淭he Butler鈥� tries to encompass too much history within too narrow a framework. Daniels utilizes Cecil as a "Zelig"-like character to reflect three decades of social and racial upheaval. Although Whitaker gives a sturdy, commendable performance, his character is made to bear too much symbolic weight. And having a parade of presidents hurried through the piece 鈥� played none too convincingly by Robin Williams (Eisenhower), James Marsden (Kennedy), Liev Schreiber (Johnson), John Cusack (Nixon), and Alan Rickman (Reagan) 鈥� only adds to the film鈥檚 once-over-lightly, flashcard quality.
Winfrey is good, though, demonstrating yet again that she鈥檚 an actress and not just a celebrity playing an actress. Moments in this film, particularly in the aftermath of the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr., hit home. Given the subject matter, how could they not? But it鈥檚 also a bit weird 鈥� almost Pirandellian -- watching Winfrey play a woman who cries during Obama鈥檚 election victory speech. In that moment, it鈥檚 unavoidable: We鈥檙e not watching Gloria, we鈥檙e watching Oprah, the president鈥檚 close friend and major touter. Grade: B- (Rated PG-13 for some violence and disturbing images, language, sexual material, thematic elements and smoking.)
