Sunday, January 26, 2014

The Butler

Forest Whitaker is Cecil Gaines, the White House butler for 8 presidents. This is a tale of the life of Cecil. But more so it is the story of American History and how historical events are really just a series of actions by individuals who care. Through the development of Civil Rights to the opposition to Vietnam, these huge movements are made of individuals making individual decisions. And it turns out that the "movement" is not what changes things, but individual relationship is what changes the thinking of another individual. Whitaker does an excellent job of showing with a glance or a facial twitch how he has softened or changed his mind based on his knowing an individual. Well done.
4 stars (out of 5)

No comments: