MovieChat Forums > The Butler (2013) Discussion > Who looked most like there historical fi...

Who looked most like there historical figures ....

posted 9 years ago by crakatoot
8 replies | jump to latest

And who looked like them the least..... John Cusack as Nixon was ridicules. Didn't look like him, didn't sound like him. Neither Frank Langella or Anthony Hopkins were perfect but they were closer than this. And as for the closes , none were that good but I would have to say Jane Fonda as Nancy Reagan.

[–] dave4248185 9 years ago

I guess Lee Daniels and his ilk think all whites look and talk alike. No other explanation for how John Cusack was cast as Nixon. I half expected him to channel his character from 'The Sure Thing'......"I thought Watergate was about driving a van back from Mexico" And Alan (sounding like Hans Gruber from 'Die Hard') Rickman....as Reagan?. Too bad he couldn't have had a conversation with a certain senator from Arizona..."Mr McCain? Mr John McCain?" And Robin Williams as Ike? "Oooh, Mr Happy....the little rock Schools are going to integrate? What shall we do?" Moronic.

[–] hilaryjrp 9 years ago

I can't think of another film that I found simultaneously absorbing and mediocre at the same time. I kept watching hoping that something unstereotypical would happen, and also kept watching for the presidential impersonations. None were good.

I would have preferred no White House scenes and just the marriage story of Cecil and Gloria. All their scenes were fantastic. Their sons' stories were straight out of a soap opera.

[–] caligirlbr323 9 years ago

I would say JFK and Nancy Reagan were casted pretty well!

[–] Howlin Wolf 9 years ago

I thought James Marsden did pretty well as JFK!

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[–] joekiddlouischama 9 years ago

I can't think of another film that I found simultaneously absorbing and mediocre at the same time.

I found The Butler to be very moving and poignant, socially relevant and thematically intricate, and ultimate a very good and important film.

That said, I can see what you mean. The film offers the look and narrative structure of a TV movie, and it sometimes sacrifices depth for breadth.

[–] tate-hildebrand 9 years ago

I loved Alan Rickman as Ronald Reagan!

[–] bpollen 9 years ago

Yeah, I thought Cusack was a poor choice for Nixon. He not only didn't look like him, he didn't speak or act like him. Maybe he didn't want to do am imitation.

Jane Fonda nailed Nancy Reagan. Spot on. She's a good actress (don't hate on me, Fonda haters!)

None of the actors for the Presidents were very good. The English actor Alan Rickman who played Reagan was pretty good.

[–] Freddyfan951 8 years ago

I though LJB, Eisenhower, and Reagan were done well, but I think they could have done better with JFK, finding someone who actually looked and sounded like him instead of having the actor do his hair a certain way.