What's on Netflix: Butter

Ever since I was introduced to Juno (a brilliant film that should be seen by all) I have found myself on the lookout for off beat, quirky comedies.  This has produced mixed results, but on the whole I am a fan of this unique film genre.  So, when I was perusing upcoming releases a little under a year ago I saw a film called Butter.  I'm not sure that there is a better name for a movie, so naturally my interest was piqued and I vowed to see it. Unfortunately, it wasn't playing anywhere close to me so I had to wait for DVD or Netflix.  I finally got to see it last week and I was surprised by the result.

SYNOPSIS
In small-town Iowa, an adopted girl discovers her talent for butter carving and finds herself pitted against an ambitious local woman (Jennifer Garner) in their town's annual contest. (via IMDB here)

THE BAD
Jennifer Garner is a great actress, and she can play a superhero/secret agent rather well.  Unfortunately, her talent doesn't extend to character acting.  She over-acts pretty much the entire movie.  I suppose they meant for it to be this way, but I just couldn't empathize with her.  Also, the nature of the caricature that she portrayed was pretty unbelievable.  They seemed to paint any right-wing stay-at-home-mom in Iowa to be a freak without ability to think normal thoughts.  I suppose this provided comedic value, but it didn't do anything for me except turn me off.

THE GOOD
The rest of the cast is fantastic, with Yara Shahidi stealing the show.  The satiric nature of the butter carving contests is done very well.  Also, Ty Burrell (Modern Family) proved to me that he is quite versatile and belongs among the greats.  He is very subtle here and really makes the audience like him and sympathize with his character.  Also, Hugh Jackman's part, although small, is great too. It amazes me that he is so type-cast.  Although I despised Les Miserables, I was glad to see that he got a gig outside of an X-Men/action flick.

CONCLUSION
This was a fun movie, although I can't put it on par with Juno, Up in the Air, Thank You For Smoking, etc. because of some major pacing issues and the over-acting by Jennifer Garner.  3/5 Disco Balls.

PARENTS GUIDE
This movie is Rated R for language and sexual content.  It basically has a bunch of f-words, a scene in a strip club, and a non-explicit sex scene.  I recommend watching it with a filter like Clearplay, partly because of the content it edits, but also it sufficiently removes the poorly paced scenes.  I can't recommend it otherwise.