Lee Daniels' The Butler (2013)
Average Rating: 6.8/10
Reviews Counted: 133
Fresh: 97 | Rotten: 36
Gut-wrenching and emotionally affecting, Lee Daniels' The Butler overcomes an uneven narrative thanks to strong performances from an all-star cast.
Average Rating: 7.1/10
Critic Reviews: 40
Fresh: 32 | Rotten: 8
Gut-wrenching and emotionally affecting, Lee Daniels' The Butler overcomes an uneven narrative thanks to strong performances from an all-star cast.
liked it
Average Rating: 4/5
User Ratings: 39,011
Movie Info
LEE DANIELS' THE BUTLER tells the story of a White House butler who served eight American presidents over three decades. The film traces the dramatic changes that swept American society during this time, from the civil rights movement to Vietnam and beyond, and how those changes affected this man's life and family. Forest Whitaker stars as the butler with Robin Williams as Dwight Eisenhower, John Cusack as Richard Nixon, Alan Rickman as Ronald Reagan, James Marsden as John F. Kennedy, Liev
Cast
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Forest Whitaker
Cecil Gaines -
Oprah Winfrey
Gloria Gaines -
Cuba Gooding Jr.
Carter Wilson -
Terrence Howard
Howard -
Alan Rickman
Ronald Reagan -
Jane Fonda
Nancy Reagan -
John Cusack
Richard Nixon -
James Marsden
John F. Kennedy -
Minka Kelly
Jacqueline Kennedy -
David Oyelowo
Louis Gaines -
Alex Pettyfer
Thomas Westfall -
Robin Williams
Dwight D. Eisenhower -
Alex Manette
H.R. Haldeman -
Mariah Carey
Hattie Pearl -
Lenny Kravitz
James Holloway -
Vanessa Redgrave
Annabeth Westfall -
Liev Schreiber
Lyndon B. Johnson -
Yaya Alafia
Carol Hammie -
Colman Domingo
Freddie Fallows -
Nelsan Ellis
Martin Luther King J... -
Elijah Kelley
Charlie Gaines -
Aml Ameen
Young Cecil Gaines (... -
Clarence Williams
Maynard -
Jesse Williams
Rev. James Lawson -
David Banner
Earl Gaines -
Michael Rainey Jr.
Cecil Gaines -
Lajessie Smith
Abraham -
Matthew McConaughey
John F. Kennedy
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Lee Daniels' The Butler Trailer & Photos
All Critics (133) | Top Critics (40) | Fresh (97) | Rotten (36)
A high-minded, didactic, but irresistible entertainment ...
Top CriticForest Whitaker imbues his part with immense dignity and the old-age makeup is effective showcasing Cecil during his later years.
Winfrey is good, though, demonstrating yet again that she's an actress and not just a celebrity playing an actress.
A history lesson in violence and endurance. A sentimental journey. A tribute. Director Daniels and the dedicated cast of The Butler deliver all that.
The Butler may be a sanctimonious cartoon, but it points to events in the civil rights struggle that were as grotesque and extraordinary as any fiction can invent.
"The Butler" mixes big issues and big people and real human life with surprising grace.
Sometimes uneven but always sincere, 'Lee Daniels' The Butler' is a dramatic history of civil rights as seen through the eyes of a White House butler who served several presidential administrations.
Amusing stunt casting aside, it's riveting to observe how civil rights evolved from inside the Oval Office
This film is a little melodramatic, seemingly contrived and predictable, but nonetheless can deliver a strong emotional impact.
The dramatized arc of one man's long, arduous but finally glorious and transformative journey across time reminds us of just how far America has come.
When the movie focuses on the free-wheeling, irreverent banter among the butlers, or takes us home with Gaines, it gets more interesting.
The film's compulsively watchable vibe proves to be short lived...
Whitaker's ever-observing, ever-expressive eyes tell the tale of how he actively processes, thinks, and feels even if outwardly he may appear as nothing more, as his job requires, than a virtually invisible bystander.
It doesn't have enough confidence in its story without introducing various heavy-handed gimmicks to manipulate audience emotion.
Good story about a White House butler but too episodic in order to get all Civil Rights events included.
Daniels certainly flirts with greatness, and even if he doesn't quite get there -- except on occasion -- he's made a very worthy film.
Maudlin claptrap
Oprah Winfrey is great at everything. This is no news flash, but it's as apparent as ever when watching Lee Daniels' The Butler.
Sometimes corn is good for you.
Whitaker's steadfast performance as an ordinary man in extraordinary times is what makes 'The Butler' so special.
Despite the awkward, narcissistic title and the oddity of seeing John Cusack playing Richard Nixon, Robin Williams as Dwight Eisenhower, Alan Rickman as Ronald Reagan and Jane Fonda as Nancy Reagan, this is a good film.
A film with its heart very clearly in the right place, and its imagination left behind in a locked root cellar.
Instead of rolling out historical content like a mighty stream, it only trickles weakly
Uninvolving bio-pic about a man who just happened to be around when things happened. Latter day Zelig fails to grip.
Audience Reviews for Lee Daniels' The Butler
Super Reviewer
Super Reviewer
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- Cecil Gaines: Americans always turn a blind eye to our own. We look out to the world and judge. We hear about the concentration camps, but these camps went on for 200 years in America.
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- Cecil Gaines: I know my way around.
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- John F. Kennedy: I'll be looking forward to working with you the next four years.
- Jacqueline Kennedy: Eight years.
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- Cecil Gaines: You need to go.
- Louis Gaines: What?
- Cecil Gaines: Get the hell out!
- Louis Gaines: Oh, I'm sorry, Mr. Butler. I didn't mean to make fun of your hero!
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- Gloria Gaines: Everything you are and everything you have, is because of that butler.
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- Louis Gaines: You'll get arrested, you'll lose your job.
- Cecil Gaines: I lost you.
Discussion Forum
| Topic | Last Post | Replies |
|---|---|---|
| I Get It - White People are evil! Can we Move On now? | 1 hour ago | 144 |
| This looks so sentimental that it is bordering on being corny | 25 days ago | 23 |
| Lee Daniels' name is seriously in the title?! | 26 days ago | 20 |
| This movie looks hilarious. | 31 days ago | 14 |
| Seriously? gracie mouton won't spend money to see Jane Fonda???? | 40 days ago | 11 |
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Latest News on Lee Daniels' The Butler
September 2, 2013:
Box Office Guru Wrapup: Summer Closes with Butler Topping Record Labor DayMoviegoers ended their summer by spreading dollars across a wide variety of films helping the North...
August 25, 2013:
Box Office Guru Wrapup: The Butler Holds on to Top SpotThis weekend, the historical drama Lee Daniels' The Butler easily won a second term as...
August 18, 2013:
Box Office Guru Wrapup: What Won the Weekend? The Butler Did It!The annual late-summer funk hit the North American box office with only one of the frame's four new...
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Foreign Titles
- Der Butler (DE)
- Lee Daniels' The Butler (UK)
