Lee Daniels' The Butler (2013), PG-13, 3 stars

Oprah Winfrey and Forest Whitaker

I don't get why the title is a little odd and generic because I would have preferred The Butler as a title instead of Lee Daniels' The Butler. Warner Bros. was a little malignant to claim that they used the previous title in a silent film in 1916. Hollywood, these days. The studios tend to get competitive in copyrighting work for a studio. Anyway, let's forget the titular controversy and on to the movie...

Forest Whitaker stars as Cecil Gaines, a butler who is hard-working and discovers the history going on while serving eight presidents in the White House. But, as a boy, he is raised on a cotton plantation in Georgia in the 1920s, while he disturbingly witnesses his owner (Alex Pettyfer) raping his mother (Mariah Carey) and his father's (David Banner) death. He is reassigned by a caretaker (Vanessa Redgrave) to become a houseservant.

Trouble ensues when he breaks in a pastry shop and now has to pay the price by working there and is recommended by a fellow named Maynard (Clarence Williams III) to work in the White House and he is hired by Eisenhower's administrators. Eisenhower is played by Robin Williams. He is also introduced to Carter and James (Cuba Gooding Jr. and Lenny Kravitz) who works beside him throughout most of the movie.

He meets and marries Gloria (Oprah Winfrey) and raises two kids, Louis and Charlie. However, due to his humble and efficient job at the White House, Gloria tends to get bored and drunk and he has an affair with a neighbor, Howard. (Terrence Howard).

As time goes by and history is on their heels, Louis (David Oyelowo) become a first generation university student and is involved in segregated sit-in classes and gets into trouble with the law. He also participates in a group called Black Panthers, a radical organization, against Nixon's work. Charlie (Elijah Kelley) enlists in the Vietnam War and participates and the result of his fate is not a happy ending.

James Marsden as JFK greeting the maids and butlers at the White House.

Everything in the movie is followed as a sentimental "Forrest-Gump" type of story. We witness every historical event, from the Vietnam War to the assassination of both JFK and MLK Jr. to the KKK to the Civil Rights Act to even Obama's presidential campaign. The best of the cameos is James Marsden as JFK who really gets the eccentricity, stature, and accent right. He is delightful and wonderful. Alan Rickman and Jane Fonda have a great time as the Reagans. Liev Schreiber is good as Lyndon B. Johnson. Robin Williams is undeniably unrecognizable as Eisenhower and John Cusack is stale as Richard Nixon. He sounds more like himself with the makeup than Nixon.

Forest Whitaker is encapsulating as the protagonist capturing the dedication of what he sees and knows, but really is hardworking. Oprah Winfrey is not a distraction in this movie because she shows us that she can definitely act. (See The Color Purple.) David Oyelowo is exceptional as their son who embodies of what reality is outside the White House. He and Whitaker really bond in a remarkable father and son tale.

The cliche that hurts the movie is that it is distracting in its melodramatic scenes and staging a few of them as "Oscar" moments. A few of the actors will probably get nominations. But, don't take it too far. Also, I actually think that it would've been better not to preview the actors in the trailer. I wanted to be actually surprised to see who will play what non-fictional character and show the actor in the credits. It shows the Civil Rights moment in a cheesy, but organized way. Even though, I hated The Paperboy and thought that Precious was overrated, but still good, Lee Daniels created an entertainment that is ambitious in its historical significance and effectively moving in a father-and-son tale.

***