SINGAPORE - “A Butler Well Served by This Election” was Will Haygood’s 2008 Washington Post article about the astounding career of Eugene Allen, a butler who worked at the White House for 34 years through eight presidencies from 1952-1986. Working loosely on that true-life tale, director Lee Daniels and Emmy award-winning scriptwriter Danny Strong teamed up to tell the fictionalized story of Cecil Gaines (Forest Whitaker), whose civility, professionalism and grace ultimately lands him a job at the White House, where he makes friends with his fellow staffers and impresses the various commanders-in-chief who graced the Oval Office over the years.

Daniels (who gave us the Oscar nominated Precious) cleverly sets his film over the tumultuous Civil Rights/Vietnam/Watergate/Reagan era of 1957-1987 to give us a Forest Gump-esqe trip through some important, world-changing American history, tugging at all the right emotional strings. The Butler is at its tear-inducing best when directly addressing and exploring how different father-son generations approach racial inequality as well as the unwaveringly committed performance by Oscar winner Whitaker. But it is Oprah Winfrey who shines as Gaines’ wife, Gloria, showing off some solid acting chops reminiscent of her The Colour Purple best. Sure, some might argue it’s a light look at some incredibly heavy history, but it’s still a meaningful one nonetheless. So go down history lane with The Butler, learn something and play spot the star as the bevy of Hollywood actors stream in to cameo as the various presidents to varying degrees of success, ranging from Robin Williams, Alan Rickman, James Marsden, Liev Schreiber to John Cusack, sadly miscast as Richard Nixon.

(NC16,132min)