THE PLOT THUS FAR
The Butler tells the story of a White House butler who served eight American presidents over three decades. The film traces the dramatic changes that swept American society during this time, from the civil rights movement to Vietnam and beyond, and how those changes affected this man’s life and family. Forest Whitaker stars as the butler with Robin Williams as Dwight Eisenhower, John Cusack as Richard Nixon, Alan Rickman as Ronald Reagan, James Marsden as John F. Kennedy, Liev Schreiber as Lyndon B. Johnson, and many more. Academy Award® nominated Lee Daniels (Precious) directs and co-wrote the script with Emmy®-award winning Danny Strong (Game Change).
WHAT WE THOUGHT
“The Butler” looked like it was made to clean up at the Oscars. You get a ton of older actors and new characters actors to work through the Presidential line-up. Toss in a few minorities to carry a story about racial upheaval and civil rights dreams being fulfilled. If this were the late 90s, somebody would’ve made Akiva Goldsman crap out a screenplay for it. It’s annoying how formulaic everything has become with these movies.
Lee Daniels is such an odd director, but I appreciate his trip through recent American history. He plays off moments of racial tension, then he slides into a Forrest Gump slide through American culture. The family dynamic is only saved by Forest Whitaker, while the stuff with the Presidents range from mediocre to trite. That being said, I still believe that Robin Williams tried his ass off to bring life to Eisenhower. But, they all can’t be winners.
The Blu-Ray comes with a DVD copy, Digital copy, deleted scenes, gag reel, music video and featurettes. The A/V Quality sports a really strong DTS-HD 5.1 master audio track for a drama. While I did have issues with the 1080p transfer through the opening, it improves as we move along into the film. I guess it was just a cinematography aesthetic choice. In the end, I’d recommend a purchase.
RELEASE DATE: 01/14/2014