"Butler" Has Poor Presidential Casting Choices

   Lee Daniels made some very poor casting decisions when making The Butler.

   I am not talking about Forest Whitaker and Oprah Winfrey. The Oscar-winning actor gave a performance that should earn him another nomination, while the former Queen of Daytime TV shows that after a 15 year absence from  the silver screen she can still act in addition to running a media empire. 

  No, I am referring to Mr. Daniels decision to cast John Cusack as Richard Nixon and Alan Rickman as Ronald Reagan. 

  Lloyd Dobler as Tricky Dick and Snape as The Great Gipper? Hard to believe, but it's true. Go to your local movie theater and see for yourself. 

  These casting decisions make absolutely no sense to me, nor should they make any sense to anyone who saw Say Anything or any of the Harry Potter movies. Every time Mr. Cusack's head popped on the screen the thought going through my head wasn't "Hey, that's Richard Nixon!" but "Hey, that's the kickboxing guy who won Diane Court's heart". Not only did Mr. Cusack look way too young to play Mr. Nixon, but he looks nothing like the 37th President, nor did he make any attempts to sound like him.

  Mr. Rickman plays The Gipper in some alternate reality. While the real Mr. Reagan was charismatic and had a sunny demeanor, the Reagan portrayed in The Butler is a President who is serious and doesn't smile all that much. During a scene in the film in which the alternate Mr. Reagan threatens to veto a bill that would put sanctions on South Africa, it felt as if Snape was talking, the only difference being his hair and his clothes. It was as if Snape had risen from the dead, stole Hermoine's time turner, and used pumpkin juice to pass himself off as the 40th President (if you have never read Harry Potter I apologize, for I know I have lost you). 

  When actors are most well known for certain roles, it is often hard for audiences to picture that actor playing someone else. Mr. Cusack will forever be known as the guy who puts a boom box over his head outside Diane Court's bedroom window, while Mr. Rickman will forever be seen as Harry Potter's least favorite professor at Hogwarts. What went through Mr. Daniels mind when making these horrible casting decisions, I will never know.