Lee Daniels 2013
This has got to be the best film I have seen this year. I feel bad for any dramas that will be going up against this film in the upcoming awards season this winter. Forest Whitaker plays the lead role of Cecil Gaines, an African American man who grew up in the 1920's working in a cotton fields. The story follows Cecil's life from his childhood through his life as a butler at the White House from the 1950's to the 1980's. Throughout his time in the White House Cecil serves under several presidents and is a first hand witness to the world changing with civil rights ending with the inauguration of President Obama. Throughout the film Cecil's son Louis (David Oyelowo) experiences the Civil Rights movement first hand as he attended sit ins and was one of the Freedom Riders who had to deal with being arrested, beaten, and having his life literally threatened for fighting to secure equal rights.(if you don't know what I'm talking about seriously go read a history book and if you have lived in the US your whole life shame on you.) The parallel scenes between Cecil in the White House and his son Louis out there in the trenches sort or speak creates a further tension between the father and son. Caught between these two is Cecil's wife Gloria(Oprah Winfrey I'm not going to put a link in for who Oprah is. If you don't know who Oprah is what are you doing on a blog.)
This movie was truly a great film. The story has a great way to remind the audience of the slice of history and a shadow of our Nations past that an audience needs every now and then. The cast is just outstanding. Forest Whitaker is a shoe in for a Best Actor Nomination and I don't think he's the only one. I wasn't sure Oprah was a good fit for this film because I wasn't sure it would be possible to see anyone other then Oprah, the most powerful woman on the planet but I guess I forgot that Oprah was nominated for an Oscar for the movie The Color Purple. She does an outstanding job as Gloria, a house wife and right away her performance makes us forget that she is Oprah. Another performance that was outstanding was Liev Schreiber as President Lyndon Johnson. I couldn't believe it was him but he nails the part.
Lee Daniels has proven he isn't just a one hit wonder with Precious with this film. He creates a perfect balance of pure entertainment. The part I love of his story-telling is the way he throws humor into the story at just the right time to keep the whole film grounded and not getting overly dramatic because there is a lot of drama from the real life that this film is based off of. Another thing I love about this film is it's not a Civil Rights film. It's a film about Fathers and Sons that is set in the middle of the Civil Rights Movement. It's amazing that with the subject of Civil Rights that has so much dramatic moments in our history some of the most intense scenes are with Cecil and his son Louis as they clash as many fathers and sons do. I literally can't think of anyone I don't recommend this movie to. I think everyone will leave this movie with a feeling of wow, that was great damn movie.
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