Butter (2011)

In small-town Iowa, an adopted girl discovers her talent for butter carving and finds herself pitted against an ambitious local woman in their town's annual contest.

Director:

Jim Field Smith

Writer:

Jason A. Micallef

Stars:

Jennifer Garner, Ty Burrell, Yara Shahidi

Cast

Credited cast:
Jennifer Garner	...	Laura
Ty Burrell	...	Bob
Garrett Schenck	...	Orval Flanagan
Kristen Schaal	...	Carol Ann
Phyllis Smith	...	Nancy
Joe Chrest	...	Butter Fan
Deana Ricks	...	Butter Fan's Wife
Yara Shahidi	...	Destiny
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Dodie Brown	...	June Carmichael
Corena Chase	...	Mrs. Schram
Pearce Colwell	...	Webelo
Rob Corddry	...	Ethan
Cindy Creekmore	...	Danielle Mattingly
Andrew Daly	...	Radio Announcer
Ashley Greene	...	Kaitlen

Storyline

In Iowa, laid-back Bob has won the state fair's butter-carving contest 15 years running; his tightly-wound and hard-charging wife Laura sees Bob becoming governor, so when the contest organizers ask him to step aside so others can win, she's incensed; when Bob won't protest, she decides to enter herself. In the county contest, she's up against Destiny, an African-American foster child, and Brooke, a prostitute Bob hasn't paid. When things don't go Laura's way, she enlists the help of Boyd, an old boyfriend. Laura's step-daughter and Destiny's foster parents are in the mix as things heat up at the state fair. What are Destiny and Laura's destiny?

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Plot Keywords:

contest | state fair | iowa | small town | butter | 

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Taglines:

There's going to be a meltdown.

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Genres:

Comedy

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for language and sexual content

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

18 October 2012 (Russia)

Also Known As:

I proklisi

Filming Locations:

Bossier City, Louisiana, USA

Box Office

Opening Weekend:

$70,931 (USA) (5 October 2012)

Gross:

$70,931 (USA) (5 October 2012)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Michael De Luca Productions, Vandalia Films, Weinstein Company, The

Technical Specs

Runtime:

90 min

Sound Mix:

Datasat Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Kate Hudson was set to play Brooke, but dropped out to do Something Borrowed instead. She was replaced by Olivia Wilde.

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Goofs

Laura's hand is shown in different places in shots when they announce her speech.

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Quotes

Laura Pickler: I plan on proudly bearing his children.
Brooke Swinkowski: So, you want a cookie 'cause you're going to get pregnant? I get pregnant, like, once a month!

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Crazy Credits

On the Blu-ray, there are no opening credits except for the RADiUS-TWC logo and the title.

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Connections

References American Idol (2002)

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Soundtracks

"Keep Marchin'"
Written and performed by Raphael Saadiq
Courtesy of Columbia Records
By arrangement with Sony Music Licensing

User Reviews

Uneven but, entertaining satirical comedy

Uneven but, at times, amusing offbeat comedy about the participants in a butter sculpture contest. When butter sculpture king, Bob Pickler (Ty Burrell) is asked to step aside after 15 years in the spotlight, his vengeful, social climber wife, Laura (Jennifer Garner) decides to enter to win to keep the Pickler name at the top. When she comes up against a truly talented 10 year old orphan, Destiny (Yara Shahidi) the gloves come off as Laura Pickler fights to keep herself socially relevant. While the film isn't perfect, the script by Jason A. Micallef provides some fun satirical wit and director Jim Field Smith guides a good cast through the hit and miss material well enough to entertain. And while for the most part, Butter is a fun satire of middle America, it does have a tendency to divert attention to subplots that don't serve the story. No more evident then Bob's involvement with a hooker (Olivia Wilde) who then becomes involved with the contest and Bob's daughter (Ashley Greene). It provides some sex and spice to the film but, nothing to the plot as does Hugh Jackman's brief appearance as an old flame of Laura's. While the film's focus does wander, there is enough there to make this an amusing enough watch and the cast helps carry things well enough when it flounders. More like 6.5