RBR: Butter

After waiting through several delays, I was dismayed when this small comedy about a butter carving competition came out only to be blasted by several critics. Many chastised it for its poor effort at political satire and lampooning of small town America. Though disappointed, I still decided to give it a try and found that I did not share a lot of the critics' complaints. If you look for it, there are some definite parallels between two of the competitions' contestants and Barack Obama and Sarah Palin. When I watched the film though, I didn't really focus on that comparison and found it much more palatable as a result. The film is far from perfect, however. There are subplots, like one involving Olivia Wilde as a stripper that really feel superfluous. It's hard to complain though about seeing her scantily clad for 90 minutes. There's also a little too much of Jennifer Garner, who plays the phony sweet ultra Conservative Palin-esque competitor. Those flaws aside, I will admit to laughing a lot, which is always an essential component to any comedy. I also found the butter carving concept fascinating and frankly wished there had been more of it. If you don't read too much into the film's message, this works as a quirky indie comedy. If you look for sharp satire, then you may want to save your cholesterol and just skip Butter. Rating: ****