Curdling. Butter is a prime example of why Jennifer Garner urgently needs career advice intervention. Garner looks awful when she plays harpies, exchanging any sense of likeability and appeal in trade for over-acting as if with a chop block for inspiration. But she is not the only fault here in this callous satire on American domestic values. Ty Burrell (TV’s “Modern Family), Olivia Wilde, Ashley Greene, Rob Corddry and Hugh Jackman (as a dunce car salesman) signed on for fool’s work, too. Actually, Alicia Silverstone, as a mom (!), is the most wasted and underdeveloped role in the bunch.
The advertising pictures must look cute: In Iowa, the heartland of groomed middle-class America, a butter-carving contest takes place. Nice. But the adults are envious of an African-American 10-year old girl (Yara Shahidi) who appears to have a natural gift. Garner, addicted to winning, does what it takes to sabotage the little girl’s chances. Wilde, a stripper with a mission to get paid what’s owed to her, does what it takes to spike the little one’s chances.
This is one of the worst movies of the year – blink and you’ll miss it anyway – replete with crude, demeaning, cringe-worthy scenes. Atrociously photographed, too. And Garner seems to think her wonderful berry smile and rose garden cheeks were not a gift from God, but a curse. She must be afraid of being liked, as if warmth and cheerfulness denotes her acting appeal. Dear Woman, please go back to making modest but likable flicks like “The Odd Life of Timothy Green,” “The Invention of Lying” and “Juno.”
91 Minutes. Rated R.
LAUGH-FREE COMEDY / MOVIE BOMBS / WEEKEND PARTY GAME RIDICULE
Film Cousins: “The Safety of Objects” (2001); “Pumpkin” (2002); “The Chumscrubber” (2005); “The Family Tree” (2012).