Let's see here... white guy doing a movie review about Civil Rights... okay... treading lightly... treading lightly... beginning now... As a white male born of privilege... nope... bad start... there really is no way around this... God, I wish I was black... yeah, don't think I can say that either... um.... how about the story?
The Butler or because Warner Bros. are a bunch of douchenozzles, Lee Daniels' The Butler tells the story of Cecil Gaines (Forest Whitaker), a boy born a slave who witnesses the murder of his father, rising up out from the fields, into the house, out of the house into a hotel, out of the hotel and into the White House where he served as Butler to eight different presidents during his stay. Of course, during this time, rights for (blacks? coloreds? African-Americans? Shit, I'm screwed) were in the midst of a fray for equal rights. Cecil's son, once old enough to leave for college, joins the civil rights movement and participates in numerous non-violent protests and ends up in jail over thirty times. It's difficult to watch a man as respected and kind as Cecil have to endure the actions and the consequences of his idealistic son. While both men butt heads throughout the film, neither one is truly wrong. Cecil is just trying to put on his happy-face for the white man, be a fly on the wall until he is needed, work his ass off every single day to provide for his family (something most, um, black, families weren't able to do back then) and keep his head high. His son wants persecution to end. He wants to fight for the rights of all black people, no matter what the cost, even going so far as to join the Black Panther movement, where it becomes evident that sometimes you have to pick your battles.
From what I've gathered in my very minimal amount of research, most of the story is accurate. It was refreshing to see such well-respected actors taking on the role of some of America's most important Presidents. John Cusack, James Marsden, Alan Rickman, Liev Schreiber, and Robin Williams all portraying Presidents that had some hand in Civil Rights. Marsden and Schreiber take the cake, though. As JFK and LBJ respectively. Both were political bad asses. But, let's not forget that Oprah is in this movie, folks. Yes, the richest woman in the galaxy. And she's quite good, too. It's almost a pity that she only chooses the same role, because if she's this good of an actress I'd like to see her in something a little more outside her chosen wheelhouse.
The movie isn't an entire success, however. While I do feel that this is a very important movie for people to see (much like last year's The Help and the previous year's The Blind Side) tonally the film is a little awkward. We want to empathize with Cecil and like him and understand the importance of his role as The Butler in the White House for over thirty years. However, he's a difficult man to like at home as he's constantly butting heads with this son. We also want to like his son because we agree with his ideals and us, now in 2013, can see the hatred that drove those times, but it's frustrating to know that by doing this he's putting his father's career in jeopardy. We want to fall in love with Oprah, but the first half of the film she's a mean, drunk, almost reclusive housewife bored with her life, but too afraid to venture elsewhere. We await the scenes in the White House with the Presidents and their own personal bonding moments with Cecil, but we're never really sure which face Cecil has on.
And the film is just sad. I know that's probably the most obvious thing that I can say on here, but it's a depressing film. Yes, we know how the Civil Rights movement turned out. Yes we know that in [most of] America there isn't a Coloreds Only sign on water fountains or bathrooms or designated areas of Diners, but witnessing the hatred of this country of human beings is sickening to watch. And, unfortunately for the viewer, every actor does a fine job in their role so it's even more heartbreaking. I do understand that this film was made for essentially two reasons: the first, of course, is to tell Cecil's incredible journey, but it's also pretty clear that the second reason is to win awards. There's no shame in that. Some movies are just made to get that gold statue. They're good movies, but they can be a little heavier (on purpose) to secure it. That's kind of how The Butler felt for me. It tries almost a little too hard to stick out in your mind, weigh heavily on your heart, and implant itself in your brain so you remember it when the Academy is ready to vote. It is a very important film for most people to see, but just know, going into it, you're going to be taken for a very emotional ride... an emotional ride that isn't entirely genuine, but a little manipulating.
B-
No comments:
Post a Comment