Jennifer Garner, Ty Burrell, Olivia Wilde, Hugh Jackman, Alicia Silverstone, Rob Corddry. These are a few of the people populating the cast of Butter. But despite this promising roster, the movie is a fairly predictable ho-hum affair. In fact, the only reason to watch it might be to un-ironically appreciate the art of butter sculpting.
Garner plays Laura Pickler, whose husband Bob (Burrell) has won the Iowa State Fair's annual butter sculpting competition for the past 15 years. This year, he has been asked to step down and give someone else a chance, a suggestion that the controlling Laura does not appreciate. She has political aspirations for Bob and craves the limelight, but when Bob refuses to force his way back into competition, she decides to compete herself. Her main challenger is Destiny (played with adorable gravitas by Yara Shahidi), an 11-year old African-American girl who has recently been adopted by Ethan and Jill Emmet (Corddry and Silverstone). The Emmets are anxious to make Destiny feel loved, so they support her newfound talent despite their confusion about why anyone would want to compete in this "redneck" enterprise.
Laura's other rival is Brooke (Olivia Wilde), a stripper who had an affair with Bob and is now claiming that he owes her money. She hates the uptight, judgmental Laura and is determined to take her down. The rest of the movie proceeds along these lines, with some laughs, but not many. At the county competition, the contestants offer up ridiculous speeches about America and following your dreams. But ultimately, it's all just about the butter. Some scenes are amusing, but most of the enterprise feels like jumping through hoops and putting in unnecessary twists that still lead you to the inevitable conclusion.
In fact, if you watch the theatrical trailer for Butter (embedded below), you will have seen the best parts of the movie. There's really nothing more to it, and that's a shame. This is a great cast and they are all very funny in their individual scenes, but there isn't much of a story. It's supposed to be a political satire, but it's more like an SNL sketch that didn't realize it had to end in five minutes and went on for an hour and a half. The butter sculpting scenes are a joy to watch, so if you're intrigued by this art form you could order this movie On Demand or catch it in limited release starting on October 5th. Otherwise, hold out for more promising fare.
Garner plays Laura Pickler, whose husband Bob (Burrell) has won the Iowa State Fair's annual butter sculpting competition for the past 15 years. This year, he has been asked to step down and give someone else a chance, a suggestion that the controlling Laura does not appreciate. She has political aspirations for Bob and craves the limelight, but when Bob refuses to force his way back into competition, she decides to compete herself. Her main challenger is Destiny (played with adorable gravitas by Yara Shahidi), an 11-year old African-American girl who has recently been adopted by Ethan and Jill Emmet (Corddry and Silverstone). The Emmets are anxious to make Destiny feel loved, so they support her newfound talent despite their confusion about why anyone would want to compete in this "redneck" enterprise.
Laura's other rival is Brooke (Olivia Wilde), a stripper who had an affair with Bob and is now claiming that he owes her money. She hates the uptight, judgmental Laura and is determined to take her down. The rest of the movie proceeds along these lines, with some laughs, but not many. At the county competition, the contestants offer up ridiculous speeches about America and following your dreams. But ultimately, it's all just about the butter. Some scenes are amusing, but most of the enterprise feels like jumping through hoops and putting in unnecessary twists that still lead you to the inevitable conclusion.
In fact, if you watch the theatrical trailer for Butter (embedded below), you will have seen the best parts of the movie. There's really nothing more to it, and that's a shame. This is a great cast and they are all very funny in their individual scenes, but there isn't much of a story. It's supposed to be a political satire, but it's more like an SNL sketch that didn't realize it had to end in five minutes and went on for an hour and a half. The butter sculpting scenes are a joy to watch, so if you're intrigued by this art form you could order this movie On Demand or catch it in limited release starting on October 5th. Otherwise, hold out for more promising fare.
No comments:
Post a Comment