The Butler review

Upcoming Oscar contender perhaps?

The Butler review – Confession time - I can’t work too long at one place once I reach certain ‘boiling point’, so imagine my admiration towards Cecil Gaines (Forest Whitaker) when he served as a Butler at the White House (prior to working in cotton field among others) for three (3) decade under eight (8) Presidents. He served through Kennedy’s execution and Nixon’s fall among others. He still survived after being oppressed all his life. Outsiders thought Cecil ‘made it big’ when he lands job at the Oval Office but little did they know the inside ‘silent battles’. This man may not have made big impacts like Martin Luther King Jr. or Malcom X but he played his little part so that ‘colored people’ could get the same ‘respect’ white folks were getting.

One man can make a chanrge

While Cecil was forced to show his ‘two face’ most of the time, his sons however had different ideas, his elder boy, Louis (David Oyelowo) was a freedom fighter going in and out of the prison most of the times trying to gain equal rights for all Americans while his younger brother Charlie, (Elijah Kelley) chose to fight for the country in Vietnam. Cecil’s wife, Gloria (Oprah Winfrey) turns into an alcoholic and has a brief affair with their neighbor Howard (Terrence Howard) to cope with Cecil’s long hours but slowly recovers and stands by her man. We get to witness how America dealt with their racial problem, how the ‘Negros’ struggled for their basic human right years after Abraham Lincoln abolish slavery. The events portrayed will hit you hard and make you think how far we have become to be more acceptable (although I wonder if racism is really behind us during modern times) towards people of different colors.       

Ideal couple?

The cast….oh my God… I had a field day trying to spot so many talents in one awesome movie! James ‘Cyclops’ Marsden, Robin ‘Mrs. Doubtfire’ Williams, Mariah ‘barely recognizable’ Carey, Alan ‘Prof Snape’ Rickman all had minor roles but once you see them, you’ll go….oooo….eh….aaaa….hehehehe….I have no idea how the casting director managed to pull such amazing string of actors to contribute to this film. As for the main role, Forest might just deserve another Oscar for his role going back and forth from one room to another room at the While House. While, Oprah did a wonderful job as a wife and mother. I can’t mention any more names because I don’t want to spoil your fun at trying to name who is who when they appear on screen. All I can say is all of them gave their brilliant performance.

Just a glimpse of the cast

The movie is slightly more than 2 hours long so you might want to clear your bladder before stepping into the cinema but that is hardly felt because every second is fully utilized moving swiftly from one scene to another. I felt moved, angered, disgusted and so many other emotions while watching this because despite the so called ‘acceptance’, there are still some idiots going around trying to mess with people minds thinking one ‘race’ is better than another ‘race’.  These kinda idiots should be…I don’t…I just wish we all could be friends with each other without any barrier. Just because someone is not doing better than you (in whatever terms) that doesn’t mean you can look down on them. May there be equal rights among all humans one fine day. Hey, one can hope kan?    

P/s - Thanks Dian for donating your preview ticket!