Butter, Blu-ray+DVD Combo (2011)

by | Nov 28, 2012 | DVD & Blu-ray Video Reviews

Butter, Blu-ray+DVD Combo (2011)

Cast: Jennifer Garner, Ty Burrell, Olivia Wilde, Rob Corddry, Ashley Greene, Alicia Silverstone, Yara Shahidi, Hugh Jackman
Director: Jim Field Smith
Studio: Anchor Bay Entertainment [12/4/12]
Video: 2.35:1 anamorphic/enhanced for 1080p HD 
Audio: English DTS-HD MA 5.1
Subtitles: English SDH and Spanish
Extras: Six deleted/extended scenes; Gag reel; Trailers for “Silver Linings Playbook” and “Bachelorette”; standard DVD copy
Length: 91 minutes 
Movie Rating: ***     Video Rating: ****     Audio Rating: ****

“Butter” takes place in Iowa where we discover that butter sculpting for the state fair is a serious competition.  Reigning butter sculpting champion for the past 15 years, Bob Pickler (Ty Burrell) is asked to refrain from further competition to allow for new winners.  Bob is happy to oblige but the decision does not sit well with his wife, Laura (Jennifer Garner).  Laura sees herself as something of a local butter celebrity and she is not ready to step out of the limelight.  She decides to enter the competition to keep the Pickler family winning streak alive.  Her strongest competition comes from Destiny (Yara Shahidi), the 10-year old foster child of a local couple.  Destiny, who thinks that she does not have any talents, turns out to be a sort of butter prodigy.  Laura, however, will go to any lengths to ensure that neither Destiny, nor anyone else, will come between her and the butter sculpting title.  Butter has a unique plot and some quirky characters.  It reminded me of similar offbeat films such as Best in Show and Drop Dead Gorgeous.  Butter has a few good laughs and boasts a surprisingly big-name ensemble cast.  It is worthy of checking out at least as a rental.
The overall video quality of Butter is very good.  Images seem a bit flat compared with other newer release titles but are otherwise clean with nice detail.  Black levels are consistently dark throughout the movie.  Colors are bright with well-saturated hues.  Picture defect mastering is near perfect and free of major defects and compression artifacts.  The overall audio quality is also very good.  The soundtrack predominantly favors the forward soundstage in its mix.  Dialogue is intelligible and firmly rooted in the center channel.  The surround channels are used sparingly for ambient sound effects like crowd noise and cheering.  The low frequency effects channel is a pretty much a non-factor.
—Calvin Harding Jr.

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