Review of The Butler (2013) by Ricky J — 11 Mar 2014
Early Academy Awards buzz pointed to Lee Daniels' The Butler taking home some trophies. Fast forward a few months later, and I'm sure the Weinsteins would have even been happy just to garner some nominations.
What went wrong? After all, 'The Butler' is an inspired-by-a-true-story political Forrest Gump esque adventure that tackles some hard issues about American history that many films don't dare tackle. Add in a huge celebrity cast and a knockout performance from Forest Whitaker, and it seems you'd have Oscar bait on your hands.
The trouble comes in the form of '12 Years a Slave', which deals with the hypocrisies of early American politics in a much more sincere, honest way. After seeing that film, you start to want a more honest version of this film, as opposed to the cleaned-up "Hollywood" version we get here.
That's not to say that The Butler isn't a good film. It's definitely entertaining, engaging, and full of great characters. Unfortunately, the mega-cast that comes with it tends to detract from the film and pull you out of the story as a viewer. I enjoyed it -- it was a decent flick, but with some different creative choices made, it could have been a great film.
This review of The Butler (2013) was written by Ricky J on 11 Mar 2014.
The Butler has generally received positive reviews.
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