Butter

Released by: Anchor Bay
Released on: 12/4/2012
Director: Jim Field Smith
Cast: Jennifer Garner, Ty Burrell, Hugh Jackman, Olivia Wilde, Yara Shahidi, Rob Corddry, Alicia Silverstone
Year: 2011
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The Movie:
Butter is a tale of two people for very different backgrounds and their two very different paths to the glory and all the benefits of being dubbed the state's best butter carver. In one corner is Laura Pickler (Jennifer Garner). Her husband Bob (Ty Burrell) has held said honor for many years and she relishes the respect and prestige that comes with being the wife of the best butter carver in all of Iowa. When Bob is asked to step aside and let someone else go for the win, Laura takes his willingness to concede as weakness and decides the title needs to stay in the Pickler family, so she enters the competition. But she didn't count on anyone actually being a contender, and is thrown for a loop when she sees the competition.

In the other corner is cute little Destiny (Yara Shahidi), an orphan who's 10 years of life have been spent bouncing around to different foster homes, before ending up in the home of Ethan and Jill (Rob Corddry and Alicia Silverstone). They take Destiny to a place where one of Bob's butter statues is on display and Destiny becomes interested in butter carving, showing a natural talent for it, much like Bob. She enters the carving competition and blows the doors off the place. Laura will not accept being beaten by a little girl and gets nasty, resorting to tactics that are questionable, unethical, and revealing her as the maniacal and controlling person she is.

Along the ride, a host of characters show up, mostly as roadblocks to Laura's obsessive quest to be the queen of butter. She gains the help of her old boyfriend Boyd (Hugh Jackman) in a way that would make most men blithering idiots, and Boyd certainly falls into that category. A stripper/hooker named Brooke (Olivia Wilde) who Bob enlisted the services of, wants the money Bob owes her (his not being able to pay for services rendered is one of the best scenes in the movie). She takes it out on Laura, creating trouble wherever she can while riding around on her adolescent boy's bicycle. Everyone in town is terrified of Laura and her intense personality, so she doesn't get support, even from her husband. But none of this will keep her from her prize, not even that little orphan kid.

This is a weird little hybrid of a movie. It's rated “R”, and there's definitely some adult-themed content which certainly makes it not a kids movie, but the inclusion of the little girl in the story as the underdog-overachiever seems like something that should totally be aimed at kids. Across the board, the performances are upper shelf, with Garner playing her role perfectly. Hugh Jackman does an awesome job playing a dipshit, and Olivia Wilde has some of the best lines in the movie. The latter two provide most of the comedic element and without them the movie would be far less tolerable. Peppered with a few funny scenes, but seemingly desperate to capitalize on the “chock full o' quirky characters”-type movies, Butter does manage to entertain enough for at least one viewing.

Video/Audio/Extras:
Anchor Bay brings Butter to Blu-ray (as part of a DVD combo pack) with an AVC encoded, 1080p picture, and with a 2.35:1 aspect ratio. Bright colors the jump right out, great black levels, and a wonderful amount of detail. Things look vibrant and clear, and it's a pleasing image. No noticeable issues to mention. Sound chores are handled by a 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio track that sounds great, but without much noteworthy to mention. A good balance is maintained between the dialogue and music, with some moments here and there which utilize some loud effects. No problems to talk about. Extras are on the slim side, which for this kind of movie is fine by this kind of brain. First are a number of deleted and alternate scenes, totaling about nine minutes in length. A gag reel fills a little over five minutes. Neither item is anything to get excited over.

The Final Word:
Butter has some merit, great performances, though mostly its pretty forgettable. It looks nice, sounds nice, but is average by way of entertainment value. Rent it if you must

Screen captures are from the DVD