The Butler

I don't actually compare every movie I see to “The Godfather”. That would be pretty pitiful if I did, because what has a chance of meeting that measure of greatness?

But here's one thing (there are MANY) that make this a gold standard of movies – you got to know the family – and that helped you identify with them. That's what is missing from a lot of movies that are supposed to be family dramas – the relationship part is rushed – that's the only thing that I see that may hold “Lee Daniels' The Butler” back.

The story opens up as a tear jerker – a young boy whose family is torn asunder and he is displaced. There are many cash crops in this country – corn, wheat, sugar, rice – but is there any as closely associated with and murder as cotton? Cecil Gaines has more reasons than most to spend his life wearing polyester.

But the boy learns his lessons well and becomes the only thing that he has been taught to be – a butler to the Leaders of the Free World. One thing about it, though, he had to be the best to get the job, so you can't be mad at that. I've always been told that no matter what you decide to do for a living, be the best at it.

So Cecil rises to recognition through a series of positions and finds himself summoned to the White House to interview for the job. He actually raises the standard, and they already thought that they were pretty hot stuff. He is at the right place at exactly right time – Cecil is a silent witness to the great upheaval that is the Civil Rights movement. From the school integration of the “Little Rock Nine” at Little Rock Central High School to the first celebration of Martin Luther King's birthday as a federal holiday, Cecil is nearby the seat of power with a knowing glance.

The main conflict appears to be between Cecil and his son. Although it is clear that Cecil is proud of his son for going to school and he explains that he will be the first in the family to go, it's not clear that he has ever explained to him how far their family has come, and how easily all of that progress can be wiped away. The son has different ideas about what his newfound freedom will bring – and he spends most of the movie fighting in every battle of the Civil Rights movement he can find – while they may not detail every single battle he takes part in – they make sure the audience knows that he has been arrested more than ten times. I'm pretty sure than anyone's parents would be angry if they sent their child to college and they spent the time behind bars – they could have done that for free.

The other on-going conflict seems to be that black service workers are paid less than their white counterparts. A lot of people may be aware that there is still disparity between male and female workers all over the counry, but most people take for granted that race and color have been taken out of the wage wars. This is possible because the man responsible for selecting the service workers is careful to select only those who would be considered “responsible”, definitely wasn't looking for the uppity kind. Cecil breaks ranks and does the unexpected here.

And that brings us to Cecil's wife, Gloria. Gloria worked at a hotel with Cecil. She is played to the hilt by Oprah Winfrey. While there were some who were disappointed in her performance, I liked Gloria's saucy personality. After the attention brought to the anticipated love scene between she and the next door neighbor (played by Terrence Howard), I guess we'll all have to wait for the Director's cut to see what all the fuss was about.

Gloria is drinking, smoking, and cheating while her husband is working hard to make sure the current occupant of the White House has all of the creature comforts. You know that Gloria is frustrated, but, really, what is she upset about? Her husband has a job – there are a lot of sisters out there who wish they could say the same! What's the point of having an affair with the next door neighbor when he's about thirty cents away from having a quarter?!

I enjoyed the movie, but there were things that were missing – we need to see more of the family interaction – more about the dynamic – and more about the Civil Rights struggle. In “The Godfather” (sorry, there goes that comparison again) when Michael tells Kay about how his father got a famous singer out of his contract with a well known band leader, isn't that everything you need to know to set the family dynamic in place? When Don Corleone tells Michael that women can be careless but men can't be, and when he tells him that he wanted him to be Senator or Governor, not carry on the family business – doesn't that tell you what you need to know about how close they are and the size of his ambition? You don't get that sense and development from this movie. The movie just seems rushed from beginning to end.

You can't cover that much history in two hours. I know that movie makers want to maximize the film's earning potential with frequent showings. I know epic films are almost impossible to make, especially for African American directors, but this is a film that could have really benefited from an extra half hour – even more from an hour. Can you imagine “Malcolm X” being two hours long?

Tell me what you thought....