The Butler
One quiet voice can ignite a revolution.
Overview
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. There, Cecil would serve numerous US Presidents over the decades as a passive witness of history with the American Civil Rights Movement gaining momentum even as his family has troubles of its own. As his wife, Gloria, struggles with alcoholism and his defiant eldest son, Louis, strives for a just world, Cecil must decide whether he should take action in his own way.
- Budget
- $25,000,000
- Revenue
- $177,313,795
- Production
- Follow Through Productions, Salamander Pictures, Laura Ziskin Productions, Lee Daniels Entertainment, Pam Williams Productions, Windy Hill Pictures
Tags & Hashtags
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Cast
Forest Whitaker
Cecil Gaines
Oprah Winfrey
Gloria Gaines
David Oyelowo
Louis Gaines
John Cusack
Richard Nixon
Jane Fonda
Nancy Reagan
Cuba Gooding Jr.
Carter Wilson
Mariah Carey
Hattie Pearl
Terrence Howard
Howard
Lenny Kravitz
James Holloway
Aml Ameen
Cecil Gaines (15)
Michael Rainey Jr.
Cecil Gaines (8)
James Marsden
John F. Kennedy
Alex Pettyfer
Thomas Westfall
Vanessa Redgrave
Annabeth Westfall
Alan Rickman
Ronald Reagan
Liev Schreiber
Lyndon B. Johnson
Robin Williams
Dwight H. Eisenhower
Yaya DaCosta
Carol Hammie
David Banner
Earl Gaines
Colman Domingo
Freddie Fallows
Crew
- Director
- Lee Daniels
- Writers
- Danny Strong
- Cinematography
- Andrew Dunn
- Composer
- Rodrigo Leão
Where to Watch
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User Reviews from TMDB
CinemaSerf
April 15, 2022
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 the…
v4lapq4m
May 20, 2023
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 Carte…