65
Metascore
47 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 88Slant MagazineChris CabinSlant MagazineChris CabinWith the film, Lee Daniels quietly pushes his talent for hashing out visceral, violent emotions into unexpected dramatic terrain.
- 83Entertainment WeeklyEntertainment WeeklyAs Cecil, Whitaker is mesmerizing. The actor seems to shrink into his imposing frame, summoning a performance of quiet, bottled-up force.
- 70VarietyScott FoundasVarietyScott FoundasThere’s no denying, though, that Daniels knows how to push an audience’s buttons, and as crudely obvious as The Butler can be...it’s also genuinely rousing. By the end, it’s hard not to feel moved, if also more than a bit manhandled.
- 70New York Magazine (Vulture)David EdelsteinNew York Magazine (Vulture)David EdelsteinCrudely powerful. You can object to the thuggish direction and the script that’s a series of signposts, but not the central idea, which is genuinely illuminating.
- 64Film.comLaremy LegelFilm.comLaremy LegelFull of truth that's ultimately diluted by a lack of focus.
- 60The Hollywood ReporterTodd McCarthyThe Hollywood ReporterTodd McCarthyInspiring if not inspired, Lee Daniels' The Butler is a sort of Readers' Digest overview of the 20th century American civil rights movement centered on an ordinary individual with an extraordinary perspective.
- 60Time OutKeith UhlichTime OutKeith UhlichViewers familiar with Daniels’s idiosyncratically vulgar work might be disappointed that there’s little here that compares to Nicole Kidman loosing a yellow stream on Zac Efron’s jellyfish stings in "The Paperboy" (2012).
- 58The PlaylistKimber MyersThe PlaylistKimber MyersLee Daniels’ The Butler could be an important film that comes at a time where race is still a challenging topic for America, but it succeeds less as a film than as a history lesson.
- A great film about the American civil rights movement is way overdue. The Butler, overwhelmed by flash and good intentions, doesn't even come close.