The Movie Butter focuses on two families and how butter carving changes their lives. The first family is what seems to be an all American, white picket fence, suburban dream with a passion for carving butter. The second family is based around a young black girl who was in foster care her whole life and then gets taken in by a white couple trying to start a family. With the All-Star cast including Ty Burrell, Jennifer Garner, Garrett Schenck, Alicia Silverstone, Rob Corddry, Ashley Greene, Hugh Jackman, and a breakthrough performance by Yara Shahidi, this movie set my expectations through the roof.
As we go on into the roller coaster that this movie sets up for us we find out that the first family, the Picklers, aren’t what they seem to be. We find out that the step-mom Laura (Jennifer Garner) wears the pants in this family and her husband Bob (Ty Burrel) has no backbone, while his daughter Kaitlen (Ashley Greene) strays to the side. As the movie continues we see Laura going on a downward spiral, she starts talking to herself, calling herself a “whore” then taking it back, and she has a whole breakdown all because Bob can’t make butter sculptures anymore, so she signs up to take his spot. Bob then gets a backbone, but instead of standing up for himself he sleeps with a stripper named Brooke (Olivia Wilde). Brooke main goal is to annoy Laura as much as possible. The second family also starts to unravel to us, but with more realistic features. The mom Jill (Alicia Silverstone) and the dad Ethan (Rob Corddry) start to warm up to their daughter Destiny (Yara Shahidi). We come to find out that she also has a passion for butter carving, or should I say it’s her destiny? Anyway, she attracts the attention of Brooke and Laura because she is a little girl who has never sculpted before, a.k.a the underdog.
For the little we see of Bob’s daughter, we realize that she hates the cookie cutter life Laura has put her in. She then becomes romantically interested in Brooke. Through out the whole film we see Brooke becoming the villain for Laura, but she is also the silver lining for every other character. Brooke shows Kaitlen that you don’t have fit into the situation you were put it, she gives Destiny a knife kit which she uses in a one on one competition against Laura, she shows Bob a good time, and she gives the viewers comedic relief.
Despite the super all star cast, Butter wasn't the best movie I've ever seen. It had more interest to me the second time I watched it with my reel reading lens on because of all of the hidden meanings to the mise en scene and lighting in the film. Overall, after I watched it as more of a movie critic, I was impressed more with the deeper messages than the film itself.
Authored by Helen Kilmartin
Referenced Critiques
http://www.npr.org/2012/10/04/161979350/no-contest-everything-is-better-with-butter
Arnold, Joel. "No Contest: Everything Is Better With 'Butter'" NPR. NPR, n.d. Web. 28 Feb. 2014.
As we go on into the roller coaster that this movie sets up for us we find out that the first family, the Picklers, aren’t what they seem to be. We find out that the step-mom Laura (Jennifer Garner) wears the pants in this family and her husband Bob (Ty Burrel) has no backbone, while his daughter Kaitlen (Ashley Greene) strays to the side. As the movie continues we see Laura going on a downward spiral, she starts talking to herself, calling herself a “whore” then taking it back, and she has a whole breakdown all because Bob can’t make butter sculptures anymore, so she signs up to take his spot. Bob then gets a backbone, but instead of standing up for himself he sleeps with a stripper named Brooke (Olivia Wilde). Brooke main goal is to annoy Laura as much as possible. The second family also starts to unravel to us, but with more realistic features. The mom Jill (Alicia Silverstone) and the dad Ethan (Rob Corddry) start to warm up to their daughter Destiny (Yara Shahidi). We come to find out that she also has a passion for butter carving, or should I say it’s her destiny? Anyway, she attracts the attention of Brooke and Laura because she is a little girl who has never sculpted before, a.k.a the underdog.
For the little we see of Bob’s daughter, we realize that she hates the cookie cutter life Laura has put her in. She then becomes romantically interested in Brooke. Through out the whole film we see Brooke becoming the villain for Laura, but she is also the silver lining for every other character. Brooke shows Kaitlen that you don’t have fit into the situation you were put it, she gives Destiny a knife kit which she uses in a one on one competition against Laura, she shows Bob a good time, and she gives the viewers comedic relief.
Despite the super all star cast, Butter wasn't the best movie I've ever seen. It had more interest to me the second time I watched it with my reel reading lens on because of all of the hidden meanings to the mise en scene and lighting in the film. Overall, after I watched it as more of a movie critic, I was impressed more with the deeper messages than the film itself.
Authored by Helen Kilmartin
Referenced Critiques
http://www.npr.org/2012/10/04/161979350/no-contest-everything-is-better-with-butter
Arnold, Joel. "No Contest: Everything Is Better With 'Butter'" NPR. NPR, n.d. Web. 28 Feb. 2014.