I love films that have unsympathetic characters; Unsympathetic characters just buck the traditions of stereotype and pull in far more complicated personalities and situations. Butter, a 2012 film by Jim Field Smith, is unexpectedly about the lives of three very different women, two of whom are fairly unpleasant people.
I hadn’t seen any trailers for this film, or noticed its release; I only managed to find it while scrolling through the itunes movie lists during an evening of procrastination. Despite the fact that this film went fairly unnoticed in 2012, it has a substantial cast of actors: Jennifer Garner, Hugh Jackman, Olivia Wilde, Alicia Silverstone, Ty Burrell (Modern Family), Kristin Schaal, amongst a few other recognizable faces.
The film centers around Destiny (Yara Shahidi), a ten year-old orphan in Iowa who has just been fostered to Alicia Silverstone and her husband and Laura Pickler (Jennifer Garner) who is the wife of butter-sculpting genius, Bob Pickler (Ty Burrell). As butter sculpting king and queen, Bob and Laura have been asked to step down from their thrones and give someone else a try in the next competition, a situation that Laura refuses to accept and so enters herself. Destiny also decides to enter into the same competition and is a butter prodigy, matching Destiny and Laura into an epic battle. Along the way, Bob starts a relationship with a grumpy stripper named Brooke (Olivia Wilde) who joins as well to piss off Laura and to intimidate Bob into paying her the money he owes for his last session. Confusion, sex, extortion, bribery, sabotage and other political behaviors ensue.
Butter is obviously a political satire, and unfortunately, it’s not subtle in its political agenda. This, more than anything, brings the film down since it can feel a bit like you’re having the opinions of the screenwriter (Jason Micallef) shoved down your throat and doesn’t allow for the complexities surrounding a lot of political issues.
Also, not every character is compellingly untraditional; it’s more of a mixed field. Some unconventional and interesting characters thrown in with total clichés, and while the ending was trite and unimaginative, a few of the characters we meet in the middle of the film, still made this film enjoyable and worth discussing.
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| Jennifer Garner sculpts the assassination of Kennedy as Laura Pickler in Butter |
For the good then: Laura Pickler (Garner) is unsympathetic character number one; She is ambitious and uptight and obsessed with her social status. When she’s asked to step down, along with her husband, she decides she can’t let anyone else have the glory and so proceeds to try to stomp on the competition. And when she catches her husband in the back seat of their van with Brooke, she T-bones the van with her suburban. She’s also a liar, using sex to get hunky car salesman Boyd Bolton (Hugh Jackman) to help her win a competition.
Basically, you’re supposed to hate her and the fact that she’s pretty obviously a republican, but I sort of loved her; she’s determined and forceful and naughty and beyond that, she’s a bit lonely and maybe in need of a few friends. Even here, in this film that’s supposed to portray a leftist agenda, the woman who is ambitious and tries to dream big (she later becomes a candidate for political office) get’s a bad rap and labeled as a ‘bitch.’ So I guess, I was rooting for her, as least she had a unique personality.
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| Olivia Wilde draws a scarlet letter as Brooke in Butter |
Unsympathetic character number two: Brooke, the stripper. The stripper with the heart of gold is a pretty common trope, but Brooke was a pretty good mix. She’s obviously lying to and manipulating Bob (and he’s naïve enough to fall for it), soliciting sex, extorting and even bullying him into giving her more money. She even sleeps with Bob’s teenage daughter in exchange for Kaitlin Pickle (Ashley Greene) stealing money from her father and giving it to Brooke. Of course, Brooke then gives the money to Destiny to help her beat Laura and is then redeemed in the audience’s eyes. It’s a pretty twisted web, but I liked how unapologetic she was about her profession, her motives, and her behavior.
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| Yara Shahidi begins her butter sculpting practice as Destiny Butter |
Destiny of course, is the good guy, the sweet orphan who helps to redeem both of these characters, and that’s cool. But, that’s not always what happens in the world, sometimes there are just nasty people who aren’t always redeemed. I think it’s just as important to show those kinds of people, as it those who do learn from their mistakes. Besides, it would have been a far more effective political satire with the ‘bad guy’ winning at the end; rather the ending to Butter just feels like pandering.
Most of the movie’s moments of comedy come from the self-centered and uncouth things that Laura and Brooke say and do, but there are a few clever dialogues involving Destiny (Shahidi). Shahidi, is a great young actress and her introductory rant about her past foster homes is hilarious, as is an exchange with her foster father, Ethan (Rob Corddry), about all the bad things that could happen if she enters the competition: attacked by “racist ninjas” and “republicans” being two legitimately funny answers.
Butter, as a film, will win no awards, and really, the ending is annoying; however, it does have some moments of good comedy and wacky characters. I appreciated its off-beat sort of humor and crazy ladies, and for a Sunday afternoon film, it’s just fine. Besides, I did learn something: there are some intense people out there carving butter for film productions and state fairs and these people are amazing artists.
Rachel Redfern has an MA in English literature, where she conducted research on modern American literature and film and its intersection, however she spends most of her time watching HBO shows, traveling, and blogging and reading about feminism.