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16/08/2013 Drama 2h 12m
73
User score

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.

  1. Lee Daniels

    Director

  2. Danny Strong

    Writer

Top billed cast

  1. Forest Whitaker

    Cecil Gaines

  2. Oprah Winfrey

    Gloria Gaines

  3. David Oyelowo

    Louis Gaines

  4. John Cusack

    Richard Nixon

  5. Jane Fonda

    Nancy Reagan

  6. Cuba Gooding Jr.

    Carter Wilson

  7. Mariah Carey

    Hattie Pearl

  8. Terrence Howard

    Howard

  9. Lenny Kravitz

    James Holloway

  10. View more

Full Cast & Crew

Reviews

A review by v4lapq4m
Written by v4lapq4m on 2023-05-20
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 Carter and Ford don't make an appearance. It's a family tale, falling in love witn a maid from the hotel(...read the rest
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Recommendations

  1. All the Way66%
  2. Reagan64%
  3. Selma73%
  4. W.61%
  5. Bombshell67%
  6. The Best of Enemies74%
  7. Skin64%
  8. The Banker76%
  9. The Assassination of Richard Nixon65%
  10. Belfast70%
  11. The Last of the Mohicans73%
  12. The Long Walk Home76%
  13. What Maisie Knew71%
  14. Official Secrets72%
  15. To Kill a Mockingbird79%
  16. JFK75%
  17. The Glass Castle71%
  18. The Rat Pack58%
  19. Fences68%
  20. 4272%

Status
Released

Original Language
English

Budget
$25,000,000.00

Revenue
$177,313,795.00

Keywords