Lee Daniels' The Butler (2013)

The quiet dignity of doing your job well can be its own form of courage, especially when history is unfolding right in front of you. Lee Daniels' "The Butler," written by Danny Strong and inspired by the life of real White House butler Eugene Allen, stars Forest Whitaker as Cecil Gaines, who serves eight American presidents over more than three decades. From inside the White House, he witnesses the civil rights movement and the Vietnam War, while at home his wife, Gloria (Oprah Winfrey), struggles with his long absences, and his eldest son, Louis (David Oyelowo), joins the Freedom Riders and the fight for civil rights, straining their relationship. The film features an all-star lineup of presidents, including Robin Williams as Dwight Eisenhower, James Marsden as John F. Kennedy, Liev Schreiber as Lyndon B. Johnson, John Cusack as Richard Nixon and Alan Rickman as Ronald Reagan. It's a moving portrait of one man's quiet witness to history.