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I came away with 2 important thoughts from this film. The first being how much the world changed from the time the protagonist was a boy until the end of the film. It IS remarkable that the life of African Americans did not change much from the time of the Civil War until 1960--shameful really.

The second thought here is that there is no specific right way to go about social change. The path The Butler took and the path of his son were very different, but in effect they both changed hearts and minds.

I thought the casting to be fine, unlike most reviews here. Surprising but not distracting. The only one I struggled with was Alan Rickman, because he seemed to be struggling with the accent.

I did think that the film was lacking emotional depth in some areas. The director seemed to think plopping a situation in the lap of the audience for reaction was all that was needed. I disagree. There are also several scenes of contrived sappiness that did not serve the plot well.

Viewed the first season over the past week on Hulu. Started out a bit boring, then a few sub plots were introduced that seemed pointless at first. But wow!! By the last 2-3 episodes I couldn't stop watching. The character development is very slow, and we are shown the worst of everyone first, it seems. As the show progresses, we see almost everyone has some redeeming humanity (and secrets, always secrets). The backdrop of all this is the cinematic paradise of the American Southwest circa 1940, and a war story that we all know how it ends. I feel like I was invited on a blind date, only to find by the end that I have made all kinds of new friends. I hope to hear WGN is going ahead with season 2.