Christopher Lawrence

The story of Cecil Gaines, a White House butler spanning seven administrations, is ever-so-loosely based on the life of the late Eugene Allen. But the result is too reverent to feel like fiction, too improbable to feel like the truth.

“Elysium” is many things, but subtle isn’t one of them. Too bad, really, because otherwise, the grim, grimy tale from “District 9” writer-director Neill Blomkamp is a quite good — excellent by this summer’s standards — rough-and-tumble sci-fi tale of the haves vs. the have-nots.