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: ****

Butter late than never

This film was filmed two years ago, screened at the Toronto Film Festival last year and now finally seems to be set for release to the public. Here's a trailer for the satirical film, Butter starring Jennifer Garner, Ty Burrell, Hugh Jackman, Olivia Wilde, and Rob Corddry.