The Butler

It’s the 1920’s in the cotton fields of America’s South. Cecil Gains (played by Michael Rainey Jr., Aml Ameen then Forest Whitaker) is a young child, born and raised here on the cotton plantation with his parents. His childhood is marked by horror and cruelty as he watches the abuse of his mother and violent death of his father. An orphan, the landowner’s wife (by Vanessa Redgrave) takes him in to the homestead as a house servant, where he works until he’s a teenager. He learns to tend to the family’s every whim as if he’s not there. He leaves the plantation to make his own way in the world and heads north. He finds deep love with his wife Gloria (by Oprah Winfrey) and they raise two sons, Louis (by David Oyelowo) and Charlie (by Elijah Kelley). He works hard to provide for his wife and family. He excels as a server and rises through jobs as house servant to a butler. One day while he’s working, he’s spotted by a household manager from the White House and invited to work there. He proudly becomes a White House butler. So begins his long career serving the President. As the years pass, issues of civil rights and race segregation bring more and more active protests and violence throughout the country and Cecil’s son Louis becomes politically active. Cecil finds this very hard to accept and their relationship suffers.  His career at the White House spans his loyal and discrete service to Presidents Eisenhower, Kennedy, Johnson, Nixon, Ford, Carter, Reagan and Bush Snr. Although Cecil is an unassuming man, throughout the decades his unwavering loyalty to the Presidents brings unexpected challenges in his personal life and for his family.

This movie brings to screen a story uncovered during the Obama Presidential campaign when journalist Wil Haygood sought an African American who’d been a White House employee during the Civil Rights movement. He found Eugene Allen, now 89, and this is his story. The issues of the time are depicted well, as is the conflict between father and son – it gives a good overview for anyone not familiar with the issues, the significance of the Freedom Bus and the work of Martin Luther King Jr and Malcolm X. Clearly, it has the potential to be really great and with such strength in the cast from Forest Whitaker, Oprah Winfrey, Terence Howard, Vanessa Redgrave, Lenny Kravitz, John Cusack and Cuba Gooding Jr, its credentials cannot be denied. Alongside these key characters, the drama is peppered with cameos from great actors such as Jane Fonda, Robin Williams, Alan Rickman and Clarence Williams III … the list goes on and on – it should have been stunning … but … it isn’t. Unfortunately, it’s only okay. Both Forest Whitaker and Oprah Winfrey put in good strong performances (in my view, she is much better on screen than as a talk show host), but the rest is only good, not outstanding. There have been whispers of disappointments that Oscar nominations didn’t come, but it doesn’t really rate well enough alongside the other contenders for this year.  I think that is the right call for this one.   

Made in 2013. Directed by Lee Daniels

 

Precious

Precious (played by Gabourey Sibide) is a 16 year old obese girl living in Harlem in the late 1980’s. Her life is tough and for anyone not used to seeing it, it is eye-boggling. She is illiterate, pregnant for the second time as a result of rape by her father, an outcast at school and she is mentally abused by her mother (played by Mo’Nique). With all this to contend with for someone so young, she still has a will to make good in her life so she goes along with a suggestion that she attend a new special school. Here, her new teacher (by Paula Patton) believes in tough love. Due to her circumstances, she also has another important relationship in her life, with her social worker (played by Mariah Carey).  The story follows a portion of Precious’ life through her pregnancy to the birth of her second baby, it explores the challenges life throws her way, her new outlook since attending the different school and her relationships.

The film was directed by Leigh Daniels and has been adapted from the novel “Push” by New York poet Sapphire. The brutality in Precious’ life is shocking, the treatment from her mother is cruel and violent and Precious’ utter desparation is palpable. There are no hints in this movie, it is all there for you to see. As a newcomer, Gabourey Sibide’s performance is exceptional, as is the portrayal of Precious’ mother by Mo’Nique which warrants her Best Supporting Actress Oscar and several other similar awards in 2009. An excellent movie.