The Butler (12A) ***
The Butler is very loosely based on the real life story of Eugene Allen, who served under numerous presidents at the White House for 34 years before retiring in the mid-eighties. Interestingly, his job saw chaotic and huge changes over three decades in the fight for civil liberties of blacks in the US.
The always-reliable Forest Whitaker puts in a strong, low-key performance as Cecil Gaines, a man whose traumatic early years on a cotton plantation have thought him discretion and subservience.
But he has charm and skills too, and lands himself a job as butler at the White House, just as the early shoots of the civil rights movement begin to take root.
During his tenure working for presidents including Eisenhower, Nixon, Johnson, Kennedy and Regan, Gaines witnesses some of the most tumultuous events of modern US politics - events that could change the lives of him and his loved ones.
The movie shows some powerful scenes in the fight for equality among black Americans, a fight made all the more personal by the fact that his estranged son (David Oyelowo) is involved.
Winfrey is solid as Gaines’ oft-neglected wife, and Howard and Gooding Jr offer support as his colleagues and confidantes.
What a shame, then, that the melodramatic music, sometimes cheesy dialogue and overuse of voiceover narration has the effect of making The Butler an overcooked drama that REALLY wants to be taken seriously this awards season.
The Counselor (16) *
Legendary writer Cormac McCarthy pens his first screenplay in this crime thriller set along the Texas/Mexican border.
While it has its moments and there is, as you’d expect, some fine writing in there, for the most part it’s a clunky and poorly conceived mess. It’s hard to fathom how those involved, lead by the normally consistent director Ridley Scott, could get it so wrong.
The main problem is the plotting, which could at best be described as oddball, and does a poor job of keeping the audience up to speed with what is actually going on.
Michael Fassbender plays the central character, a nameless lawyer madly in love with his hot fiancée (Penelope Cruz) and looking for a better life together.
He’s made a living representing the lowlifes and drug dealers that populate the area around the Texas/Mexico border but wants more.
So he gets tempted into a one-off drugs deal with a number of associates, including his charming friend, nightclub owner Reiner (Javier Bardem) who’s dating the hot-but-aggressive Malkina (Cameron Diaz), and another client, the smooth-talking Westray (Brad Pitt).
McCarthy may be a gifted novelist, but this writing does not work in screenplay form, with its convoluted story threads and lengthy monologues that vary from witty to pretentious.
Characters are overdeveloped but their interactions with each other often make little sense.
Diaz fares best as the badass of the piece, but even she can’t save this high-profile misfire. Bonkers, and only to be viewed as a curiousity.
