Lee Daniels' The Butler (**)

Like Tyler Perry, Lee Daniels' is learning to create a name for himself in Hollywood. Branding his films in the same fashion, 'The Butler' has proven a box office hit, and we will surely see many more films by the Oscar-nominee in the near future.

Hopefully we can see a bit more focus next time...

'The Butler' is a mess of near-catastrophic proportions. From the script up, the film itself is flawed in nearly every regard. The 'loosely-loosely based on a true story' of Cecil Gaines (in reality a man with a very different story named Eugene Allen), a man who worked in the White House as Lead Butler from Robin Williams to Severus Snape. The facts surrounding his position are astounding, and it's a wonder he didn't run into Forrest Gump at least a few times during his amazing odyssey through life and American History.

I don't want to spend a review bashing the film, because there are some okay (alright, good) performances by Forrest Whitaker and the beloved Oscar-nominee Oprah Winfrey. And heck, the makeup in the end is pretty good, too.... And I also liked when it ended?

The problem is the structure. When you are making a movie about a man's life and the influence of American history upon it and vice versa, we need a plot, we need reliable characters. As far as I can gather, Cecil liked being a butler, his son rebelled against it by joining the Black Panthers, and then Cecil decides to join him for no clear reason? The emotional conclusion to the film is seeing Cecil share a prison cell with his son, Louis. Oh, and the tears of joy with the election of Barack Obama. You know, because it's a race-themed movie and what a great conclusion.

From the cotton fields at the film's start (I didn't actually know Mariah Carey was black until this movie) to the elderly Cecil waiting to meet with the new President at the White House, we see the story unfold, with scene after scene of the most ridiculous-cast Presidents (each more ridiculous than the next, too). It's like a bad month of SNL hosts in a row giving it their best shot. No President is given more than one scene or two, adding to the confusion of their purpose in the film at all. No matter. I guess it's more a story of father and son, anyways.

For the acclaim this film received upon its release, I would be surprised to see it receive more than one Oscar nomination, if that at all. It's a slow-moving film that drudges along at the speed of an elderly Forrest Whitaker. It's like the continuation of 'Forrest Gump,' were they to make a sequel documenting the life and times of Bubba. Yes, it's kind of a true story and there's a general glazing of facts and time, but in the end, is that enough to warrant a full-length movie?

(Awards potential: Best Supporting Actress (Winfrey), Best Makeup)