"The Butler"

[PStreet1]

We've now seen The Butler; it's definitely worth seeing; it's a very well executed film.

 

[DaveNV]

We've now seen The Butler; it's definitely worth seeing; it's a very well executed film.

Just from the cast, it seems like it'd be really good. So, you liked it then? We're talking about going to see it.

Dave

 

[Passepartout]

It's on my 'Don't miss it' list. There'll be academy awards, I predict.

Jim

 

[PStreet1]

I can think of only one member of the cast that I thought wasn't good--but it's a bit part. In my opinion, everyone else did an excellent job.

 

[Luanne]

Dd and I saw it yesterday. Definitely worth seeing.

 

[Sandy]

I agree it was excellent. We saw it on Sunday. The theater was packed for an afternoon matinee, and we had to sit on the very first row.

The thing I have noticed with these types of biographical movies is that they are offering a history lesson intertwined within the movie. In our culture many young people do not know some of these things. I heard a young person behind me comment when a particular scene played, "Why do those folks have on white sheets?" or "Is that the Ku Klan?" or, "Why are they beating them up?" This were serious questions, despite the speaker getting the name incorrect. It was not a kid speaking, as I observed when the movie dispersed.

There were many scenes of real footage of actual occurrences in the movie. Many people learn some of our US history from such popular media, but I always assumed folks know through schooling and reading. How wrong I am sometimes.

The story of the real life butler is fascinating. The movie depicts the tension between father and son as times changes. The old ways versus the new ways.
Go see it when you get a chance. I highly recommend it.

 

[MuranoJo]

Saw it today and also thought it was very good.
However, I hadn't read much about the story line before and was assuming there would be more anecdotal information about the butler's relationships with all those presidents. Yes, there was some of that, but it didn't go very deep. I agree it is a good history lesson for some of the younger generation.

 

[bogey21]

I'll wait for the DVD. I haven't been to the theater to see a movie in over 10 years. Can't stand the prices including refreshments. Color me cheap! Note that I buy most of my DVDs at Pawn Shops for around $2 each.

George

 

[Patri]

DH and I saw it today. Very good and educational. However, upon coming home to research the main character and his family, I was disappointed to learn how much of the story is fiction. A bunch of us at the theatre were interested in learning more about these people, and turns out their lives were totally different!

http://entertainment.time.com/2013/08/16/what-the-butler-really-saw/

PSStreet1, who did you think wasn't very good?

 

[pedro47]

The Commander-In-Chief and I saw the movie this afternoon. Awesome!!

 

[bogey21]

Won't go to see it as I have boycotted any movie with Jane Fonda in it for years and see no reason to stop now.

George

 

[PStreet1]

DH and I saw it today. Very good and educational. However, upon coming home to research the main character and his family, I was disappointed to learn how much of the story is fiction. A bunch of us at the theatre were interested in learning more about these people, and turns out their lives were totally different!

http://entertainment.time.com/2013/08/16/what-the-butler-really-saw/

PSStreet1, who did you think wasn't very good?

I didn't come home and look up the facts, but both my husband and I felt it was highly fictionalized; it came off, to us, as a "composite" of what a series of White House employees might have experienced. I'm glad you posted the article.

I felt John Cusack was weak as Nixon. The script, of course, had him drunk and inept with people, and even working with that as a given, I thought Cusack handled it poorly. (And that doesn't even take into account that from all reports in various books from people who worked at the White House, the Nixons were much loved by the staff.)

The film was intended to follow the Civil Rights Movement and show individual's reactions and difficulties; I think it did an excellent job of doing just that, and I thought all the actors, with the exception of Cusack, did a really good job.

 

[Patri]

Gotcha. It took me a long time to figure out who he was, and then I could only think 'John".
Even Snape did a great job as Reagan. He had the head tilt. And Jane Fonda somehow pulled off looking short.

 

[Luanne]

Won't go to see it as I have boycotted any movie with Jane Fonda in it for years and see no reason to stop now.

George

Too bad. She was only in it less than a few minutes.

 

[mspeggysue911]

I guess I had my expectations set way too high because we went to see it Friday night and I was so disappointed with it.

I was expecting a great, Oscar worthy movie (but it will still probably get nominated based on what it is about) with all those great actors in it.

But it was suppose to be about this butler's life and it really wasn't about that. It was 80% about the son and the civil rights movement.

I didn't like it.

I do think Nancy Reagan would be turning over in her grave if she knew they had Jane Fonda, one of the biggest liberals in Hollywood, playing such a conservative first lady.

 

[x3 skier]

Pure fiction.

Cheers

 

[ace2000]

I do think Nancy Reagan would be turning over in her grave...

Pure fiction.

You're right skier, she's not dead... :hysterical:

 

[Patri]

I do think Nancy Reagan would be turning over in her grave if she knew they had Jane Fonda, one of the biggest liberals in Hollywood, playing such a conservative first lady.

Nancy Reagan is still alive.

 

[wilma]

I didn't like it.

I do think Nancy Reagan would be turning over in her grave if she knew they had Jane Fonda, one of the biggest liberals in Hollywood, playing such a conservative first lady.

Ummmmm, Nancy Reagan is still alive.....

 

[Rascalsmom]

Thanks for the link!
The group I saw the movie with had a lot of the same questions.
I've found myself thinking about the movie and the underlying issues all day.

 

[MULTIZ321]

Hear From the Real Butler of the White House, Eugene Allen - by Vicky Gan/ Around the Mall/ SmithsonianMag.com

"The top movie at the U.S. box office last weekend was Lee Daniels’ The Butler, a drama loosely based on the life of White House butler and maître d’ Eugene Allen. Allen, who died in 2010 at age 90, served eight presidents from Truman to Reagan during his 34-year tenure. The new film, which stars Forest Whitaker as the fictional butler Cecil Gaines, is not a biopic, rather a portrait of race relations through the eyes of one man."

- Eugene Allen, inspiration behind The Butler, poses for a portrait by Roland Freeman. Image courtesy of © 2013 Roland L. Freeman

- Eugene Allen served as a White House butler and maître d’ for 34 years. The new film The Butler, starring Forest Whitaker and Oprah Winfrey, is loosely based on his life. Image courtesy of Smithsonian Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage

Richard

 

[Luanne]

But it was suppose to be about this butler's life and it really wasn't about that. It was 80% about the son and the civil rights movement.

Who said it was supposed to be about the butler's life? I went with the expectation that it would be told kind of from his perspective, but it chronicled the changes around civil rights. So the movie was exactly what it was supposed to be.

 

[pedro47]

First Lady Nancy Reagan is still living.

 

[Laurie]

Won't go to see it as I have boycotted any movie with Jane Fonda in it for years and see no reason to stop now.

That's giving a lot of power to Jane Fonda (whose part in this film was a couple of minutes), isn't it? Too bad, your loss.

 

[puppymommo]

With these "historical" movies (like Lincoln, The King's Speech and so on), I always wonder how much is actually historical and how much is fiction. Obviously dialog is fictional until someone was there actually videotaping!

I wish they would/could put a disclaimer at the beginning of the movie that this movie is mostly fiction, mostly historical, about 50-50, etc. I think people usually suspend their disbelief when watching such movies and often thing the movie is mostly accurate. It seems like the Butler is mostly fiction as it is billed as "loosely based" on actual events.