The Butler

One quiet voice can ignite a revolution

This very US-centric drama plays out mainly in the White House, in the period after World War II. In effect it is a history of the civil rights movement, as seen through the eyes of a fictional butler and his family, who served under eight successive presidents during that period.

133 minutes.
No persons under 13 (Language, Violence, Prejudice).
Biographical, Drama, On the art circuit

Not currently showing on the local cinema circuit.

Life in the White House

Credits

Cast	Forest Whitaker, Alan Rickman, Cuba Gooding Jr., David Oyelowo, John Cusack, Lenny Kravitz, Liev Schreiber, Melissa Leo, Oprah Winfrey, Robin Williams, Terrence Howard, Vanessa Redgrave
Director	Lee Daniels
Screenplay	Danny Strong, from the article by Wil Haygood
Music	Rodrigo Leão
Cinematography	Andrew Dunn
Editing	Joe Klotz, Brian A. Kates
Sound formats	Dolby Digital
Soundtrack	Available
Made in	2013
Produced by	Follow Through Productions, Salamander Pictures, Laura Ziskin Productions, Lee Daniels Entertainment, Pam Williams Productions, Windy Hill Pictures

Official Site | IMDB page | ScreenIt Report | CommonSenseMedia Report
Scroll down for embedded trailer

Film and Publications Board (FPB) Report (SA)

Genre	Drama
Language	Fairly frequent, pejorative, mild to moderate impact
Nudity	None
Sex	None
Violence	Frequent scenes, mild to moderate
Prejudice	Frequent scenes, mild to moderate
Blasphemy	None
Drug abuse	Two scenes of excessive drinking, mil impact
Comments	Racism is the principal theme that runs through a film about America and its deeply divisive segregated nature. Themes linked to it are a slowly awakening national consciousness, and the efforts of civil rights movements to oppose bigotry. These themes are mature and complex, prompting viewers to things carefully about this important issue.
These details are supplied by the FPB. If you have a problem with any of the above, please take it up directly with the FPB. Read the Classification Guidelines.

ScreenIt Report (USA)

Sex / Nudity	Violence	Blood / Gore / Gross
Guns / Weapons	Profanity	Alcohol / Drugs
Smoking	Disrespectful / Bad Attitude	Imitative Behaviour
Frightening / Tense Scenes	Jump Scenes	Tense Family Scenes
Music (Scary/Tense)	Music (Inappropriate)	Topics to talk about

CommonSenseMedia Report (USA)

Suggested age limit 13 +	Positive messages	Positive role models
Violence	Sex	Language
Consumerism	Drinking, drugs, smoking

Ratings

Scale (Max)	20
What the Critics say
Cape Argus / The Star Munya Vomo US History serves up Oscar bait.	15
Die Burger Laetitia Pople Agter die gedienstige masker.	15
Cape Times Todd McCarthy White House, black butler.	10
ScreenIt C. Fuchs Daniels' film feels like a made-for-TV movie, and a mediocre one at that.	8
Metacritic.com 44 critics	13
Rottentomatoes critics 139 critics	14
Rottentomatoes tomatometer Tomatometer Gut-wrenching and emotionally affecting, Lee Daniels' The Butler overcomes an uneven narrative thanks to strong performances from an all-star cast.	15
Movie Review Query Engine MRQE critics	13
CommonSenseMedia Staff evaluation	10
What the People say
Internet 14219 Netizens	13
Average .. 63%	13