- Drama
- 132 min
- PG-13
Rotten Tomatoes72%Metacritic65IMDb7.2
One quiet voice can ignite a revolution.
Cecil Gaines was a sharecropper's son who grew up in the 1920s as a domestic servant for the white family who casually destroyed his. Eventually striking out on his own, Cecil becomes a hotel valet of such efficiency and discreteness in the 1950s that he becomes a butler in the White House itself.
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Character
Earnest, grave, classical in form and epic.
- earnestironic
- gravecomic
- classical in formformally daring
- intimateepic
- contemplativerelentless
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Reviews on TMDB
Written by TMDB members; each links to the original. Not part of Tastebuds's numbers.
- v4lapq4mon TMDB · May 202310/10
I was in a mood for a Robin Williams movie. I hadn't heard of this one and it was streaming free. While Williams had only a small role as Eisenhower this movie was amazimg: thought provoking and tear jerking. Probably not the best for a 5:30 a.m. Saturday, bu this is going on my DVD to purchase list. Following a man(Whittaker) from his childhood on a plantation, to running away from home, getting a job as a house boy in a fancy DC hotel, to butlering for seven different presidents, though Carter and Ford don't make an appearance. It's a family tale, falling in love witn a maid from the hotel(Whimphry), raising two boys, onein politics, from MLK to the BPP to congress, all against daddy's wishes, and one "good boy" who joins the army for what he believes in. I only heard of Whitaker from Young Rock, but he was great.Makeup was wonderful keeping up with aging. Oprah was a great mama, loving her boys, pleasing her man, and a lonely house wife while he worked long hours at the Whitehouse contributing to struggles with alcohol and adultury. One of the best dramad I have seen in years.
Read the whole review on TMDB - CinemaSerfon TMDB · Apr 20227/10
We begin with some brutality at the hands of a character (Alex Pettyfer) who believes that the negroes on their cotton plantation are, quite literally, worthless. He rapes a woman then murders her husband when he raises a very mild objection! His mother (Vanessa Redgrave) takes a liking to their now orphaned boy and promotes him from the fields to be their houseboy. Learning how to keep his head down and to play the game, he quickly succeeds and ends up working in the White House. His period there (ending in the Reagan administration) allows for an interesting conduit to depict the evolution of the American civil rights movement, of changing (and not) attitudes and it gives a little insight into how the Oval Office and it's occupants might work. The supporting cast list is impressive, but with the exception of Oprah Winfrey (his wife "Gloria") most have but fleeting appearances as the story moves along. Their own life is not without heartache and troubles - one of their sons is determined to do what he can to fight for their freedom from oppression, an activity done at considerable peril to him and those around him. The narrative also, gently, exposes discrimination across the boar
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Cast
- Forest WhitakerCecil Gaines
- Oprah WinfreyGloria Gaines
- David OyelowoLouis Gaines
- John CusackRichard Nixon
- Jane FondaNancy Reagan
- Cuba Gooding Jr.Carter Wilson
- Mariah CareyHattie Pearl
- Terrence HowardHoward
- Lenny KravitzJames Holloway
- Aml AmeenCecil Gaines (15)
Crew
- Lee DanielsDirector
- Danny StrongWriter
- Andrew DunnDirector of Photography
- Rodrigo LeãoOriginal Music Composer
- Joe KlotzEditor
- Lee DanielsProducer
- Cassian ElwesProducer
- Buddy PatrickProducer
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