The Butler

Directed by Lee Daniels, The Butler depicts the life of Cecil Gains (Forest Whitaker) during his 34 year employment in the White House. Set against this white background and the sociological qualms of the time, his tale weaves together the depiction of various presidents, and his own personal ups and downs.

Starting with a backstory to amplify the suffering that Gains went through before he became a learned and poised house servant was a necessary and thankfully short lived heartache to endure. It helped give the film depth and the character a breadth of understanding for his future actions, but would have made the audience deflated, defeated and depressed if that was to be the tone for the rest of the film.

Cecil's family go through their own individual trials from when he announces his new position at The White House to his over the moon wife Gloria (Oprah Winfrey) and less than content eldest son Louis (David Oyelowo). The happiness is soon short lived as Cecil spends more time at The White House than his own, and fails to see the crumbling within his own walls. But as their world changes around them, in fashion, friends and politicians, Cecil and Gloria watch hope grow and die, pulling each other out of the darkness and into the light, standing the test of time and remaining as strong as their modest three bedroom house who sees it all with them.

David Oyelowo is not who I would have picked to play Louis, Cecil's oldest and seemingly never ageing, misguided son. I cannot however thwart his performance, as I more than once felt like slapping him for his reckless for the sake of recklessness behaviour, as he chased trouble in order to make a stand in the racial class system of 1950's/ 1960's America. He did manage to stem towards believability when Louis grew closer to Oyelowo's actual age of 37.

The film has an array of famous faces which includes Alan Rickman, James Marsden and Robin Williams, depicting the short and influential or long and scandalous terms of seven United State Presidents, but one that requires special mention is Oprah Winfrey in her role of Gloria Gains. In those minutes she embodied the character of Gloria seamlessly, adding her own unique blend of sassiness to the character, that couldn't have been described in a script or motioned by the director.

Although the story of The Butler was more influenced than based on real life, it was extraordinarily told, and allowed the audience to feel as the character felt, rooting for them and suffering with them. Done without violence or brutality, this is a warm and gripping tale for a chance to learn more than the personal traits of various world leaders.

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