So now, as summer turns to fall and people return to school, the Oscar Season starts. As annual as the changing of the seasons, Harvey Weinstein–the mogul who toppled “Saving Private Ryan” for Best Picture in 1998 and remains as powerful as he was in his 90’s heydays–usually has a couple of dramas that seem destined for the Academy Awards; It must be said that “The Butler”, while perhaps destined for awards victory, isn’t quite as grand as one might think.

Cecil Gaines (Forest Whitaker) has a job as a White House butler, an occupation that requires much time and dedication, but also gives him a unique perspective to America’s evolving stance on racial issues. While grappling with his son, Louis (David Oyelowo), involvement in controversial protest groups, he soon sees events, both horrifying and glorifying, that will change the placement African-Americans have in society and also change the very course of history itself.

The movie’s best asset is its depiction of actual historical events, be it non-violent protests or the variety of Presidents, played by a schmorgsaboard of famous actors (my personal favorites were Robin Williams and Alan Rickman as Dwight D. Eisenhower and Ronald Reagan respectively). Through Cecil’s eyes, the film takes on a vein similar to the masterpiece “Forrest Gump,” which is not exactly the worst film on the planet to emulate. The problem is that the script feels a little all over the place, with too many supporting characters for the film to handle, and the film’s noble attempt to contrast Cecil’s son’s crusade for African-American rights against his father’s lifestyle. An interesting structure that doesn’t pay off, thanks to the script never fully fleshing out the characters Louis meets, even though some his scenes do have emotionally powerful moments.

The cast is pretty good, with Forest Whitaker being perfect as Cecil, easily delivering one of the year’s best performances and conveying decades worth of pain and toil in every move he makes. The rest of the cast is more of a hit or miss, with Oprah Winfrey and Cuba Gooding Jr. doing wonderful, while David Oyelowo seems oddly one-dimensional in his performance (it doesn’t help that most of his scenes are with Forest’s fantastic performance). I would also like to make a note of the films makeup, which is phenomenal and really does wonders in transforming the actors (namely Forest and Oprah) into older version of theirs characters without ever distracting from the scenes they’re performing in.

The ideas behind  “The Butler” are intriguing,  so it’s a shame that it got transformed into this messy script and more of a hit or miss than it should be. Not bad or even mediocre by any stretch of the imagination, “The Butler” never reaches the heights of “42” or “Red Tails, other films that tackled the topic of segregation with more heart and success. I have no doubt that the film will be nominated for many awards this winter (and Forest is certainly worthy of a nomination for his astounding performance here), but such hype would feel bigger than “The Butler” actually is. In the end, it winds up being far from great, but still filled with superb moments.