‘Butter’: Charming comedy makes already quirky carving competitions bigger than life

While Jim Field Smith’s previous film, She’s Out of My League, didn’t get rave critical reviews, we loved it anyway. So we were excited to see the Smith’s latest effort, Butter.

While the film is loosely based on real butter carving competitions still taking place at state fairs across the country (check out this Google image search if you’re an urban dweller who has yet to witness this cholesterol-inducing artistry) , it heightens the drama,  suggesting that in some small American towns  community excitement around butter carving is  tantamount to the thrill winning the state football championships .

The film centers on Bob Pickler (Modern Family’s Ty Burrell), who has entered (and won) a butter sculpture contest hosted in his small Iowa hometown for the past 15 years. But, when he’s forced to retire from competition, his status-fixated suburban wife Laura (Jennifer Garner) decides to pick up the slack and compete to keep the trophy in the family. Bob has made some pretty amazing sculptures over the years (Schindler’s List and The Last Supper, among them) and topping his work will be no easy task. But Laura is overly confident. And, as it turns out, she can actually carve a pretty mean chuck of butter.

While Laura thinks she’ll win easily, there’s a little snag in her plan: she has to compete against Destiny (Yara Shahidi), an artistic young African-American girl being fostered by a well-meaning, if a bit naïve, young white couple (Rob Corddry and Alicia Silverstone) who wholeheartedly encourage her desire to carve out a place in the competition. Destiny also receives support along the way from Brooke (Olivia Wilde), the trash-talking, BMX-bike-riding town stripper/prostitute, who has it out for Bob after he stiffed her on $600.

Even though Butter includes scandal, cheating, infidelity and teen sexual experimentation, it really demonstrates everyone’s desire to figure out their identity and find a place in the world. Although it has its share a laughs (from a decidedly charming first-time parent Corddry, an appropriately over-the-top conspiring Wilde, the always offbeat Kristen Schaal as a clueless “competitor” and a perhaps slightly underutilized Hugh Jackman as a slow-witted car salesman Laura seduces to advance her plan), the film’s pat ending takes some of the bite out of the proceedings. Still, the movie is so well-acted, that’s hardly a detriment. Garner continues to show her range and brings so much subtlety to her character, you can see why Laura Pickler might be mistaken for a politician who just doesn’t know her limitations and Shahidi shines as the film’s one character with a real heart. In the end, Butter might be just a tad too sweet, but that’s no reason to take it off the menu.