This movie tells the story of an inane practice of carving sculpture out of butter and the collision course that a young orphan and a mid-western housewife find themselves facing. This capable movie by director Jim Field Smith and writer Jason Micallef is a tightly wound celebration of the county fair, and all the little distractions that emerge from it such as butter sculpting.
For an independent film, Butter attracted a lot of high profile talent for its cast. Olivia Wilde, Jennifer Gardner and Hugh Jackman are a few of the celebrities. Also in the role of the orphan’s adopted parents are Rob Corddry and Alicia Silverstone.
Jennifer Garner’s character, Laura Pickler is married to the original butter sculpting king, and when he’s asked to step down from his throne, Laura not satisfied to being married to a county celebrity lunges after the limelight herself. What ensues is a satire of obsession the likes only seen before with Annette Bening in American Beauty.
“White people are weirdoes” says the young black orphan early on. It’s nice to see her find a nice home and both Corddry and Silverstone play well off her and acquiesce to her wish to try her hand at butter sculpting. Born with an artistic talent she enters the fray and comes out on top midway through the film
But Garner’s Laura isn’t satisfied with second place and she hatches up a plan to win back the crown. She’s surprisingly capable herself at butter sculpting but lacks some of the creativity that her competition has. Ultimately, this film has a happy ending and will please most. Garner a producer on the film discovers young Yara Shahidi, who plays the orphan and it’s nice to see the young girl’s rise amidst all the “racist ninjas”.
