Inspired by the true story of the life of Eugene Allen, who worked as a butler in the White House through the course of eight presidential administrations, Lee Daniels tells the story of the civil rights movement through the eyes of Cecil Gaines, who begins his life working on a cotton plantation to later make his way up to working as a butler in the White House. The scenes of Cecil Gains and his colleagues working in the White House contrasts with the life of Louis Gaines, Cecil’s son, who is a political activist risking his life to fight for equality in the treacherous streets of the South.

An entertaining but distracting array of famous faces flows through the entire movie with appearances from Robin Williams as President Eisenhower, John Cusack as President Nixon, Alan Rickman and Jane Fonda as the Reagans, as well as brief appearances from Mariah Carey and Alex Pettyfer.

The central cast provided strong and convincing performances, particularly Forest Whitaker, Cecil Gaines, and Oprah Winfrey, his wife. In addition, Cuba Gooding Jr. and Lenny Kravitz, who played the roles of Cecil’s longtime colleagues at the White House, bring a sense of comedy and amusement to the otherwise deep, poignant film.  However, Lee Daniels struggles to organize the story in well-paced and structured manner, which resulted in a film that felt somewhat repetitive at times.

The Butler is effective in carrying one through seventy years of history through the fascinating point of view of a White House butler, where we see the progression of the civil rights movement through every president. The film makes us mindful and enthusiastic of how far we have come these past years.  This compelling saga is a powerful story of United States history and is certainly worth seeing.