Comedy Pick: Butter (2011)
For some reason unbeknownst to me and other lovers of quirk, Butter failed to generate stellar reviews – which it clearly should have. This indie gem wrings together a slew of brilliant performances, bizarre small-town plottings and a central conceit involving carving statues from butter.
Yes. The sandwich glue makes fools of the entire cast, led by Jennifer Garner, who looks like she’s having an absolute hoot as the manipulative Laura Pickler. Wife of retired butter carving champ Bob Pickler (Modern Family’s Ty Burrell), she orchestrates his return to the churn while contending with the phenomenal sculpting skills of precocious newcomer, Destiny.
That’s just the bare bones of the dense plot and hardly does the film’s intricate web of duplicitous shenanigans justice, as a starry cast pop up in supporting roles, threatening to steal Garner’s winning turn. Case and point: Hugh Jackman’s used car salesman is a dunderheaded imbecile, catapulting the beefcake miles away from his Wolverine persona, a clear riot for the Aussie who’s used to much more serious fare.
The stand-out dark horse has to be Olivia Wilde as exotic dancer Brooke, whose dalliance with Bob leads her to extortion, resulting in her seduction of his daughter, Kaitlin (Ashley Greene). She easily steals the flick, a brooding outsider with a foul mouth and impeccable delivery, foreshadowing Wilde’s comedic panache later revealed in Drinking Buddies.
Butter takes a farcical view on small-town politics, proving they’re often funnier, darker and far stranger than you’d expect.
Published: May 12, 2014 12:14 pm