The 2011 film “Butter” doesn’t try to answer these questions in a realistic manner. The film uses the butter carving competitions as a backdrop for a tale of orphans, adulterers, prostitutes and political hopefuls.
Laura (Jennifer Garner) and Bob Pickler (Ty Burrell) are the reigning king and queen of the butter sculpting world. Laura sees her husband’s carving talents as her foot in the door for bigger and better things. Somehow she sees the success from Bob’s butter art as a possible road to the Whitehouse. So when Bob is asked to step down from the annual competition after 14 years of straight victories to “Give someone else a shot” Laura sees her dreams dashed.
Destiny (Yara Shahidi) is an orphan who’s spent her life hopping from one foster home to the next. When she lands in the caring hands of Ethan (Rob Corddry) and Jill (Alicia Silverstone) Julie she realizes she’s never been anywhere long enough to know much about herself. She finds joy in butter sculpting and, with the encouragement of her foster parents, enters the local competition for the state fair.
Meanwhile Laura has decided just because her husband cannot enter the competition doesn’t mean she can’t. And thus the butter-carving dynasty remains in the Pickler name. This of course this puts her at odds with the young and disadvantaged Destiny. Laura plays for keeps and doesn’t back down from the title when she realizes her competition is only 10-years old.
Throw into this mix Bob Pickler’s affair with a stripper named Brooke (Olivia Wilde), Laura’s extramarital dalliances with ex-beau Boyd (Hugh Jackman) and Destiny’s quest to find her real parents and the simple butter competition becomes an exercise in darkly comedic disaster.
At least that’s the goal of “Butter,” but it never quite hits the mark, nor does it find a solid identity. At times it’s the sweet tale of Destiny trying to fit in as an African American orphan in a very white world. At other times it attempts to satirize Middle-America and state fairs and the butter carving competition. There’s an undertone of dark humor to the whole film, but despite its buttery subject matter, not a whole lot to sink your teeth into.
Jennifer Garner’s Laura is a despicable shrew of a woman. Her step-daughter looks to stripper Brooke as more of a role model. Brooke, in turn, doesn’t want much to do with the Pickler family unless money is involved. It’s clear Bob Pickler doesn’t really care for his wife and she doesn’t care for him. We know Laura is sticking by her man because she plans to use his status as political clout, but why is Bob staying with her?
Conversely, Rob Corddry as Ethan actually gets to prove there’s more to him than is usually portrayed in Judd Aptow films. He’s a knight in white-bread armor to Destiny as she struggles to make her home. Alicia Silverstone does little else but chew on her bottom lip in that pouty clueless way that made her famous. Still, Ethan and Julie don’t have to do much to look great when compared with the Picklers.
The questions aren’t really addressed and no bold statement is made when the film comes to a close. The laughs are subtle and far between. As a whole “Butter” is an awkward situation that’s doesn’t really cover any distinct subject matter with any clarity. It doesn’t pack the laughs in and doesn’t resonate as even a cult classic. It’s mildly amusing and both sweet and salty, kind of like butter itself.
Butter (2011)
Director: Jim Field Smith
 |
2 and a half out of 5 cubes of
sculpting material
|
Starring: Jennifer Garner,
Yara Shahidi,
Rob Corddry,
Alicia Silverstone, Olivia Wilde and Ty Burrell
Rated Rated R for language and sexual
content
Runtime: 90 Minutes
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