Lee Daniels' The Butler has one of the most memorable and amazing casts in recent movie histor, and should be an early contender for the Academy Award. This is one of the most important and one of the best movies of the year.
Forrest Whitaker gives the crowning performance of his career as Cecil Gaines, a black man who becomes the new butler in the White House, where he serves as butler to the President from Eisenhauer to Reagan. He also tells the presidents stories of his life, like his son joining a civil rights group called the "Black Panthers" to watching his father get killed when they worked on a cotton farm in 1926.
There's an all-cast in this film, from Robin Williams as Dwight "Ike" Eisenhauer, Alan Rickman (Die Hard, Harry Potter series) as Ronald Reagan, John Cusack as Richard Nixon, Liev Schrieber as Lyndon B. Johnson, Cuba Gooding, Jr as the head butler, Oprah Winfrey as Cecil's wife and Jane Fonda as Nancy Reagan.
This truly is one of the best movies of the year. I feel that every American student over the age of twelve should see this film, but don't consider it a history assignment. It takes you about fifteen seconds to forget the "Oprah-ness" of Oprah Winfrey as Cecil's wife and believe her as his wife. Despite being a drama, there are many humorous momenrs here, most from Cuba Gooding, Jr and Terrence Howard, who plays Cecil's neighbor who secretly has an affair with Winfrey.
This is a wonderful movie, that everybody should see. No doubt Whitaker and the ensemble cast will be nominated for many awards come December. Final grade: A-
No comments:
Post a Comment