{"id":386,"date":"2014-06-30T14:52:19","date_gmt":"2014-06-30T14:52:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/scottsfilmreviews.com\/?p=386"},"modified":"2024-04-12T16:22:08","modified_gmt":"2024-04-12T20:22:08","slug":"lee-daniels-the-butler-2013","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/scottsfilmreviews.com\/?p=386","title":{"rendered":"Lee Daniels’ The Butler-2013"},"content":{"rendered":"

Lee Daniels’ The Butler-2013<\/strong><\/p>\n

Director Lee Daniels<\/strong><\/p>\n

Starring Forest Whitaker, Oprah Winfrey<\/strong><\/p>\n

Scott’s Review #81<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"70266686\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Reviewed June 30, 2014<\/p>\n

Grade: A<\/strong><\/p>\n

Director, Lee Daniels, is a recent favorite of mine (Precious-2009, The Paperboy-2012) and his latest The Butler (2013) is an excellent, true story, undertaking.<\/p>\n

While the trailer looked appealing, I was concerned that the film might be overwrought or have a Hollywood sappiness.<\/p>\n

While it’s a Hollywood film, it is also a powerful, emotional experience.<\/p>\n

The viewer is taken on a journey from 1926 through the current president from the viewpoint of White House butler Cecil Gaines (Whitaker), who serves several presidents and is privy to the goings-on in the White House.<\/p>\n

He is played by Forest Whitaker and his boozy, troubled wife is played by Oprah Winfrey.<\/p>\n

Both give tremendous performances.<\/p>\n

The Butler is a political journey through time and I love the authenticity of each decade from the sets to the costumes to the hairstyles.<\/p>\n

The casting of the Presidents is curious (Robin Williams as Eisenhower and John Cusack as Nixon), but works nonetheless.<\/p>\n

The rivalry between Cecil Gaines and his rebellious son is quite interesting as the viewer sides with each individual at different times.<\/p>\n

The film is more emotional than I anticipated and much of the audience was teary during scenes of heartbreak and triumph.<\/p>\n

I feel The Butler (2013) is a must-see for everyone.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Lee Daniels’ The Butler-2013 Director Lee Daniels Starring Forest Whitaker, Oprah Winfrey Scott’s Review #81 Reviewed June 30, 2014 Grade: A Director, Lee Daniels, is a recent favorite of mine (Precious-2009, The Paperboy-2012) and his latest The Butler (2013) is an excellent, true story, undertaking. While the trailer looked appealing, I was concerned that the … Continue reading Lee Daniels’ The Butler-2013<\/span> →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,4143,158,3465,1759,4140,192,2622,286,3607,845,1275,2826,2833,1908,2830,4142,1405,4141,2432,771],"tags":[76,4146,159,3467,1764,4144,193,2624,287,3610,846,1278,2834,2841,1914,2838,4145,1409,2184,2440,772],"class_list":["post-386","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-2013-films","category-alan-rickman","category-bios","category-colman-domingo","category-cuba-gooding-jr","category-david-oyelowo","category-dramas","category-forest-whitaker","category-historical-dramas","category-james-marsden","category-jane-fonda","category-john-cusack","category-lee-daniels","category-lenny-kravitz","category-liev-schreiber","category-mariah-carey","category-minka-kelly","category-oprah-winfrey","category-robin-williams","category-terrence-howard","category-vanessa-redgrave","tag-2013-movie-reviews","tag-alan-rickman","tag-biographies","tag-colman-domingo","tag-cuba-gooding-jr","tag-david-oyelowo","tag-dramas-2","tag-forest-whitaker","tag-historical-dramas","tag-james-marsden","tag-jane-fonda","tag-john-cusack","tag-lee-daniels","tag-lenny-kravitz","tag-liev-schreiber","tag-mariah-carey","tag-minka-kelly","tag-oprah-winfrey","tag-robin-williams","tag-terrence-howard","tag-vanessa-redgrave"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/scottsfilmreviews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/386","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/scottsfilmreviews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/scottsfilmreviews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scottsfilmreviews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scottsfilmreviews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=386"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/scottsfilmreviews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/386\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":20106,"href":"https:\/\/scottsfilmreviews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/386\/revisions\/20106"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/scottsfilmreviews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=386"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scottsfilmreviews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=386"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scottsfilmreviews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=386"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}