The Butler

After spending his childhood on a cotton plantation, where he witnessed a mother raped and his father murdered, Cecil Gaines (Forest Whitaker) manages to do the nearly impossible: he manages to break out of that life and make a name for himself as a servant to high-ranking gentlemen. His reputation becomes so good over the years that even the White House takes notice of him. Under President Eisenhower (Robin Williams) Gaines gets a job in the most famous house in the world. He sees presidents come and go, is present at formative events in world history, and thus gets to see firsthand how his country is changing more and more. But no matter how long he remains in the shadow of powerful men like John F. Kennedy (James Marsden), Richard Nixon (John Cusack) or Ronald Reagan (Alan Rickman), his very private concerns are not diminished - quite the opposite.

The Butler is based on the life story of butler Eugene Allen, who served in the White House under seven US presidents between 1957 and 1986. Screenwriter Danny Strong, once an actor on such series as Buffy - Under the Spell of Demons and Gilmore Girls, is considered a pro when it comes to clever, entertaining takes on political material since his award-winning scripts for the HBO films Recount - Florida Counts After and the Sarah Palin film Game Change. The problem he faced with The Butler was that rather than dramatize one specific event and focus on dialogue in particular, he had to tell a story spanning several decades. And as is often the case with such biographically driven material, this script often feels a bit rushed. When there are longer passages of dialogue, Strong's strength comes into full play. Otherwise, however, the action often remains a little too superficial or just too short to be truly engaging.

Director Lee Daniels tries to counteract this with a whole host of great actors. Whether it's Robin Williams, Jane Fonda, Vanessa Redgrave, Liev Schreiber, John Cusack or Alan Rickman, even for small mini-appearances Daniels has really brought first-class mimes in front of the camera. The small squad of main actors, especially Forest Whitaker and US talk show legend Oprah Winfrey, deliver outstanding performances in every second and even the musicians and occasional actors Lenny Kravitz and Mariah Carey know how to disappear behind their characters and convince completely. This makes The Butler quite great and thoroughly impressive acting cinema.

Also in terms of the performance of the makeup artists and the equipment, the film plays in the first league. Nevertheless, the drama cannot convince in all aspects. Especially compared to Daniels` last two films Precious and The Paperboy, which were in their own way rather dirty, uncomfortable and also a bit maladjusted, The Butler just seems way too slick. Even in scenes that are harrowing and emotionally stirring, the production falls short of its potential. The whole thing seems too focused on winning as many Oscar statues as possible, and of course political correctness must always be maintained.

While it's only in the final minutes that the whole thing drowns in pathos that's a little too intrusive, Daniels is otherwise pleasantly restrained with it. Still, a little more rough edges would have really done his production good to turn a good movie into a very good work that leaves a really lasting impression on the viewer. Therefore: primarily due to the great cast with small deductions worth seeing!

An article by Frankfurt-Tipp