Butter

R

Released Oct 5, 2012

1 hr. 30 min.

Comedy

Drama

List

34%

67 Reviews

Tomatometer

44%

10,000+ Ratings

Audience Score

For many years, Laura Pickler (Jennifer Garner) has relished the prestige and admiration afforded her as the wife of Iowa's longtime butter-carving champion, Bob (Ty Burrell). When Bob is pressured to retire from competition so that someone else has a chance at victory, Laura decides to enter the contest herself. But, when three formidable opponents also enter the fray, Laura vows to win at any cost, including recruiting her stupid ex-boyfriend (Hugh Jackman) for a bit of sabotage.

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Critics Consensus

Despite its talented cast and a few funny moments, Butter's satirical aims are largely undone by a lack of subtlety and air of smugness.

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Dan S

Watched from start to finish, outside of the weight and saxophone the rest of the movie didn’t make any sense. Cringy is an understatement!!!!!! 30 year old’s acting like HS is hard to buy as well.

Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars

04/22/24

Full Review

Cristian s

Una comedia poco convencional, con buen ritmo pero a la vez no tan divertida.

Rated 2 out of 5 stars

10/27/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Over 10 years old and I still enjoy this food-politic comedy by director Jim Field Smith A story of greed, sex, blackmail, and butter itself A huge cast including Jennifer Garner, Ty Burrell, Rob Corddry, Olivia Wilde, Ashley Greene, Hugh Jackman, Alicia Silverstone, Yara Shahidi, and Kristen Schaal It centers on Laura Pickler whom has relished the prestige and admiration afforded her as the wife of Iowa's longtime butter-carving champion, Bob When Bob is pressured to retire from competition so that someone else has a chance at victory, Laura decides to enter the contest herself But, when three formidable opponents also enter the fray, Laura vows to win at any cost, including recruiting her stupid ex-boyfriend car salesman for a bit of sabotage Laura's world to her seems perfect but with other candidates running she feels it's crumbling apart She's willing to stay on top and as relevant as possible even becoming a button-down manipulator Other subplots include Laura and Bob's daughter, Kaitlin being so rebellious and shut-off, Brooke, a stripper that Bob turns to due to his rocky marriage and Destiny, a small girl that is bounced from foster home to foster home until she finds a stable pair of parents named the Emmets She maybe finds something she's good at This is actually still funny as I remember it Of all things it takes butter sculpting quite seriously but in a hilarious manner It also manages to mirror the United States primary elections of 2008 Ok it's not perfect and the political satire could use some tweaking to stand out A few subplots get completely dropped too But the humor is twisted in a dark manner while the world these people inhabit is bright and sunny It's centrally about competition and the characters partake in it any way True butter itself is fattening, you only spread it on food, and maybe the government does make it one of the few products you barely have to pay for Although even something as simple as this dairy product can drive people to better themselves or express in a manner that's unexpected We can have more than one thing that defines us, one thing isn't the only one we can have, it's okay too to pander to the lowest common audience 'Butter' is still a fun Midwest satire to watch even if some story elements could be sculpted better and saltier

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

10/18/23

Full Review

Canyou N

A bitter trophy wife and 10 y/o orphan go head to head in a butter sculpting competition. Some of the political satire falls flat, but that's not really the heart of the movie. Every joke hits just right and its easy to fall in love with the orphan and all the people who help her. Plus, it has bloopers! Who hates a movie with bloopers!?!?

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

03/13/23

Full Review

Jane S

I didn't find anything appealing about this movie, worse than a hallmark movie. Lousy acting, annoying in general.

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

11/09/22

Full Review

rose d

I enjoyed this movie. It has a lot of heart and some good performances. However it felt unfinished, as though the final act was missing. The downfall of the villain was insufficient, and she didn't demonstrate the true change of heart necessary for the resolution of such a feel-good story. Olivia Wilde's character is under-utilized, with her storyline pretty much abandoned half-way through. I felt there was a lot of potential, and with more saltiness, a harder edge and about 200g more story, this could have been some good butter.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

03/31/23

Full Review

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Jim Field Smith

Director

Jennifer Garner

Laura Pickler

Ty Burrell

Bob Pickler

Olivia Wilde

Brooke

Rob Corddry

Ethan Emmet

Ashley Greene

Kaitlen Pickler

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Carmen Phillips

Autostraddle

The entire plot for Butter is the kind of wackadoodle delight that one should really experience with fresh eyes and their feet up on a couch with a bowl junk food at their disposal.

Apr 11, 2019

Full Review

Peter Debruge

Variety

A wicked Midwest satire with razor blades stashed beneath its bright candy-apple surface.

Oct 5, 2012

Full Review

Todd McCarthy

Hollywood Reporter

Hardly the high-priced spread, this condescending comedy about Middle America will score with some audiences and put off others.

Oct 5, 2012

Full Review

Allen Almachar

The MacGuffin

It's at this point where I could include some snarky joke about butter, margarine, and Fabio, but I'm sure you've already come up with them.

Rated: C

Jul 30, 2020

Full Review

Nicholas Bell

IONCINEMA.com

Sporting an impressive supporting cast, this high glossed satire of Middle America has charming and hilarious moments, but suffers considerably from a labored, schizophrenic attempt to be politically correct and daring satire at the same time.

Rated: 2.5/5

Jun 27, 2019

Full Review

Abbie Bernstein

Assignment X

Butter isn't painful, but neither is it comically nutritious. It's a sculpture that a lot of people put a lot of effort into, but the end result doesn't really say much.

Rated: C+

Jan 31, 2019

Full Review

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Synopsis

For many years, Laura Pickler (Jennifer Garner) has relished the prestige and admiration afforded her as the wife of Iowa's longtime butter-carving champion, Bob (Ty Burrell). When Bob is pressured to retire from competition so that someone else has a chance at victory, Laura decides to enter the contest herself. But, when three formidable opponents also enter the fray, Laura vows to win at any cost, including recruiting her stupid ex-boyfriend (Hugh Jackman) for a bit of sabotage.

Director: Jim Field Smith
Executive Producer: Bob Weinstein, Harvey Weinstein, Kelly Carmichael, Juliana Janes, Ben Ormand
Screenwriter: Jason A. Micallef
Distributor: Weinstein Co.
Production Co: Vandalia Films, Hurwitz Creative, The Weinstein Company, Michael De Luca
Rating: R (Sexual Content|Language|Brief Drug Use)
Genre: Comedy, Drama
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Oct 5, 2012, Wide
Release Date (Streaming): Dec 10, 2016
Box Office (Gross USA): $70.9K
Sound Mix: SDDS, Dolby Digital

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