Lee Daniels' The Butler
Release Date: August 16 Oscar Prospects: Decent Lee Daniels' The Butler, The Butler, tomato, tomahto, let's call the whole thing off. If you haven't been paying attention to the fascinating and amusing battle over the naming rights to this Weinstein Company film, I'll give you the quick lowdown. Apparently Warner Bros. has some old 1910's short that goes by the name of The Butler, which coincidentally, was the exact same title as this year's upcoming Lee Daniels' biopic on the life of Cecil Gaines, an African-American man who served as a White House butler for over 30 years. So you're probably asking, "Big deal. Multiple movies have the same title all the time." While you are correct on this fact, Warner Bros. ostensibly has a beef with Harvey Weinstein (allegedly to do something with the rights over The Hobbit) and did the rare thing by flexing its rights with the MPAA over the title of the film. Vindictive, most certainly, deserved, I don't know, but Harvey Weinstein definitely has a reputation of "taking no prisoners" so maybe Warner Bros. couldn't resist some payback. Whatever you want to call the movie though, there is no denying the subject matter is tailor made for Academy members. Oscar-winning actor Forrest Whitaker stars as the butler in question, and the film has an all-star cast including Terrance Howard, Cuba Gooding Jr., Alex Pettyfer, Mariah Carey, Vanessa Redgrave, Lenny Kravitz, David Oyelowo, and Oprah Winfrey. Fitting into the category of famous people playing famous historical figures you also have Robin Williams as Dwight Eisenhower, James Marsden and Minka Kelly as John and Jackie Kennedy, Liev Schreiber as Lyndon Baines Johnson, John Cusack as Richard Nixon, Alan Rickman and Jane Fonda as Ronald and Nancy Reagan, and Nelsan Ellis as Martin Luther King Jr. (and yes, this does mean nobody gives a damn about Gerald Ford and Jimmy Carter). Obviously, tackling this span of contemporary American presidential history, as well as the civil rights movement, would on the face of it, look like some kind of ultimate Academy Awards wet dream. Something though has me doubting the film's status as a strong contender. Whenever a movie is this obviously bait-y, even the Academy tends to have some pride and can be reticent to stereotype themselves to such a degree. Plus, even though you could argue this is simply a bit of counter programming (a la The Help), the fact the film is being released in August and is skipping the festival circuit is not a good sign. I could absolutely see "Lee Daniels' The Butler" sneaking in a nomination here and there (Oprah Winrey's performance is reportedly very strong for instance) but I'm doubtful the movie can strike the same success that say The Help managed to two years ago. Possible nominations: Best Supporting Actress (Oprah Winfrey), Best Makeup and Hairstyling, Best Costume Design, Best Actor (Forrest Whitaker), Best Picture, Best Film Editing, Best Adapted Screenplay (Danny Strong), Best Production Design, Best Director (Lee Daniels)