About "The Butler":
Note: I was born in 1941 and have seen all of these presidents on TV, many times, and a few times in person.
Saw it this afternoon and was brought to tears several times by the civil rights scenes.
Good movie, but I would have liked more detail about the nuts and bolts of running the White House.
Forest Whitaker was superb as 'The Butler', Cecil Gaines.
Oprah, as his wife, was good too.
Minka Kelly as Jaqueline Kennedy was very convincing, as was Jane Fonda as Nancy Reagan.
She had the walk, the talk, and the mannerisms down cold.
Not so good was the casting of the presidents.
Robin Williams as Eisenhower looked more like Harry Truman and sounded exactly like...Robin Williams.
I know JFK was a relatively young president, but James Marsden looks like he's in his 20s. He is, in fact, 40, but looks much younger in the movie. JFK was 44.
OK, I quibble.
Liev Schreiber as LBJ is fairly convincing in his first 'toilet scene'. Bit of a Texas twang, but then it goes away. They did give him the Johnson long earlobes with prosthetics.
And John Cusack as Nixon. With WAAYYY too much hair. Nixon had thin hair, slicked straight back.
Carter and Ford are not portrayed, just newsreels to show that they held office.
Reagan is played by Alan Rickman. A Brit. Severus Snape in the Harry Potter movies.
I'd give it a C+.
Here's the story about Eugene Allen, the real life 'Cecil Gaines':
http://entertainment.time.com/2013/08/16/what-the-butler-really-saw/
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Ironic that Robin Williams, who can do so much with his voice, sounds like himself when playing a president.
I assume Rickman did put on an American accent?
Still, no getting over that face of his, not to mention that voice.
Too bad they could not get Anthony Hopkins to reprice his role as Nixon...
I am really curious about the LBJ "toilet scene"....
They put a 'beak' nose on Rickman that I don't think Reagan had, nor does Rickman.
Yes, Rickman had a somewhat American accent, but didn't sound much like Reagan to me.
It looked like they got a lot of actors to do cameos, maybe for name value?
Some work, some don't.
I can't imagine Robin Williams as Eisenhower. Who thought that up? 
There aren't too many movies I'm interested in seeing, but I really do want to see this one. The reviews I read on IMDb weren't all that positive, so I'm encouraged to read the impressions of a fellow DUer. 
I remember the scenes of the fire hoses and dogs.
I went to "integrated" schools, though no one ever mentioned it. "Eyes on the Prize" was a revelation to me, so I agree that this is a must-see movie for me...
With my aunt, uncle and cousin. My uncle stopped at a car wash in Georgia - and this was the '60s. I could read and I couldn't help noticing the bathrooms - labeled "Men," "Women" and "Colored." This was something I'd never seen and didn't understand, so I naturally asked. My aunt shut me down and I never did get an answer, but I could tell this was an uncomfortable topic, though I had no idea why. It stuck with me and I've often wished I'd brought it up in later years.
Where I grew up, no one ever said a thing, not my parents, relatives or teachers, so it never dawned on me. And my Sunday School teacher was black. That's why I believe prejudice is learned, though I admit I have a lot of catching up to do as far as my history education is concerned.
... that the film was based on.
A Butler Well Served by This Election - 2008
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/11/06/AR2008110603948.html
White House Butler Eugene Allen Witnesses Swearing-In (of Barack Obama) - 2009
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/01/20/AR2009012004301.html
Eugene Allen, White House butler for 8 presidents, dies at 90 - 2010
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/04/01/AR2010040103444.html
White House butler Eugene Allen's humility recalled at funeral - 2010
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/story/2010/04/01/ST2010040103462.html
I hope everyone takes the time to read the articles and also has the opportunity to see the film
"Jane Fonda was a traitor. I won't spend money to see anything she's in."
He was my best man at our wedding 44 years ago.
Unhappily he's become a dumbfuck right-winger.
I've tried to 'educate' him, but it's an impossible task.
I made no remark.
He's beyond help.
