“The Butler” Trailer Arrives– A Black “Forrest Gump”– Raves from Two Sneak Screenings
Lee Daniels’ “The Butler” is coming. And if you don’t think this is Oscar material, you are sorely mistaken. Last week in New York there were two very private advance screenings of an early cut of this all -star film– and I do mean all star– Forest Whitaker and Oprah Winfrey head a cast that everyone would die for. The movie is said to be the “black Forrest Gump.”
The screenings: one for a focus group, mostly African American, recruited from “the street” as it were. “They loved it,” says a source who was there. “The cards were all Very goods with some Excellents.”
Second screening for Daniels and Harvey Weinstein close pals. I heard that Julian Schnabel was there, and many other Weinstein intimates. Again, through the roof, although Vogue’s Andre Leon Talley “gave some notes,” as did others. Still, Jane Fonda as Nancy Reagan as “magnificent,” they said.
You know the story here? “The Butler” is based on the story of Eugene Allen, who served eight US presidents from 1952 to 1986. He’s played by Oscar winner Forest Whitaker. It’s his story and it features all those presidents and their wives– from Eisenhower to Reagan. Danny Strong wrote the screenplay. The Allens have been renaimed “Gaines.” Oprah is Mrs. Gaines. Robin Williams is Eisenhower. James Marsden is JFK. Liev Schreiber is LBJ. John Cusack is Nixon.
Not only that: there are like 25 producers including Warner Music owner and Russian billionaire Len Blavatnik. The Weinstein Company is pulling out all the stops on this one. We’ll see some kind of clip or clips in Cannes. But trust me, one look at that trailer and you know it worked out. Danny Strong told me the other day that the cut at those two screenings has been refined. “It’s even better since then,” he said.
The people I spoke to raved about Whitaker, Oprah, Fonda, everyone. These people are going to clog up the supporting actor categories, I was warned.
Bookmark this column. Remember it in the fall. “The Butler” is about to serve us big time. Harvey Weinstein is going all the way with this one. We are well beyond the days of “sex lies and videotape” and even “The Artist.” This is that big time epic sentimental sweeping film that everyone will want to see.
[…] There is a lot to like about this film and I think Lee Daniels did a good job in what will likely go down as a classic. Exiting the theater I was thinking probably 4/5, but thinking back on the film there was a lot that got lost in the mix. What I mean is that this film tries to cover so much that it inevitably spends a very short time on some pretty amazing moments and events. That isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but it does force a lot of context and detail to be smashed in so this doesn’t turn into a 6-hour event. The acting was pretty solid. Whitaker does a fine job as the butler, but there were some moments where I felt his true feelings could’ve been better expressed in his body language. Oprah Winfrey is terrific, she really impressed me. I was about 50/50 on the portrayal of the presidents, all 8 of them! As expected, every Republican president was cast in a bad light while the good traits in the Democrat Presidents were highlighted. I liked the roles that Lenny Kravitz and Cuba Gooding Jr. played as fellow butlers. I think that camaraderie could have been expanded upon a bit and given us more of a personal insight on Cecil. Most period pieces like this rely on an abundance of specific portrayals of the wardrobe and landscape that are accurate to the time, but there were a number of anachronisms in this film that seem like they should have been easily noticed and fixed. Overall this is a good movie and certainly worth a rental, but it’s not the “black Forrest Gump” as some have claimed. […]
WOW…did they reach out to audiences or what (SMH) A target audience of blacks and a bunch of bedwetting libotards who coven with Weinsteins…way to NOT reach out to 90% of America..Shame on you Roger for acting like this says so much about this movie…dipstick
Breathtaking!