Butter - 7th May 2013

Tuesday Night is Film Night returns after a week off and this week we choose a movie straight out of left field.

Will it be Anchor's away and a Lurpak of lies? Or have we struck Kerrygold and be rolling in Clover? As we sample some;

Butter

It is often said in these TNiFN blogs that storylines are formulaic and movies, of a feelgood nature, can be repetitive. This cannot be said of Butter. There is a feelgood factor yes, but the story is unique. It's certainly the first film we have seen based solely on butter carving!

To the story itself, Jennifer Garner plays ambitious wife, Laura Pickler, whose husband; Bob (Ty Burrell) has been the Johnson County butter carving champion for the last 15 years. (Stick with it, it gets better!)

After 15 consecutive years of wins, the judges believe it is time for Bob Pickler to step aside and give someone else a chance. Pushy wife Laura doesn't think so and picks up the carving tools herself.

However, she hadn't considered a challenge from 10 year old orphan; Destiny. Destiny (Yara Shahidi) has been fostered many times, but has never felt at home, until she finds herself in the home of Ethan and Jill, who manage to nurture her artistic talents and encourage her to enter the butter carving contest.

From here, the story rumbles on gently, but without much to write home about. An encounter with a pole dancer, some butter carving sabotage and sexual favours for a favour, pad out the middle section of the film. The ending is predictable, but pleasant, for those of us who like the feelgood factor.

Butter is quite a jolly film, some swearing, some sex and some laughs, but however much you like the uniqueness of the story, it cannot hide the very thin plot. Some elements of the movie have little relevance to the story, or at best, have been added to bolster the story somewhat.

Jennifer Garner is really good, but we do like The Garner. Yara Shahidi is fantastic as Destiny, but even great acting cannot make up for the weak story. Some of story was funny, but not enough to have you rolling in the aisles. There was probably more laughs in the gag reel at the end.

In summary, Butter was OK, a unique story-line, funny in places, but I can't Believe It's Not Better!

It's a 5 out of 10 for Butter.