Genre: Drama/Biography
Starring: Forest Whittaker, Oprah Winfrey, David Oyelowo, Elijah Kelly, Cuba Gooding Jr., Lenny Kravitz
Abraham Lincoln had officially banished slavery in the United States back in the 19th century. Yet, in spite of that, racism, division, injustice and misuse of African-Americans continued to as early as the 1980's. Cecil Gaines (Whittaker) experienced a difficult youth when he saw his father being murdered by his employer in a cotton farm in cold blood. He soon learns to become a house servant and decided to move on to Washington D.C. to become a waiter. His dedication towards his work and constant urge to learn, brought him in the spotlight to earn a place at The Whitehouse as the butler to the President. His eldest son, Louis Gaines (Oyelowo), wishes to fight for the rights of African-Americans which is a stark contrast to his fathers job of serving those very people who have created the system. The movie showcases the polar differences between father and son and how their lives evolve individually and the times that their paths keep crossing. Forest Whittaker has done a good performance as Gaines, but yet nothing to mark it as outstanding. The movie is a pure narration of events with no major developments and simply showcases individual lives. The movie is loosely based on Eugene Allen and his career as the butler within The Whitehouse but only for timeline of events and not for Gaines' personal life. An interesting movie with an interesting perspective of various American Presidents but still is unable to offer anything different.
Thumbs up: Interesting perspective of American politics
Thumbs down: Lacks something different
Rating: 6.9/10
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