REVIEW: Butter

4/10 - I guess Butter carving sounds interesting. But it isn't. 

Butter is a great movie on paper. It's got a great cast, likely due to the great script. In fact, the script is so good it won a bunch of awards as a spec. On paper, it sounds like a fantastically funny, heartwarming, complex story.

As a movie it's pretty meh all around.

It's not politicial enough to be a biting satire. It's not funny enough to be a comedy. It doesn't follow through with it's attempts to be smart. This is a film overflowing with potential that falls flat on it's face.

As much as I love Jennifer Garner, and think she's actually quite funny in the role, it's the wrong casting. Her character is a larger than life scheming southern belle, who's hunger for power has corrupted all morals. Jen's southern accent wafts in and out, and is just too unlikable.

Somehow that's representative of all that goes wrong with this movie. The choices made in the production of this movie weren't necessarily wrong, but they weren't big and bold enough. Everything feels a little wishy washy. I have a suspicion that a lot of the smaller story lines were neutered to make room for the main story.

For example, Olivia Wilde's character Brook is a stripper. She seduces the home grown and wholesome Bob Pickler in a moment of weakness. Then she stalks him for the rest of the movie, demanding her money. In order to extort the money, Brook joins the butter carving competition. As interesting of a monkey wrench as she is, her character just collapses upon itself by the second half of the movie. Her paper thin character has no where to go so she disappears.

At best, Brook is intended to be a foil for Laura. Brook comes from nothing, and is able to make the moral choice in the end with every reason not to. Laura is privileged, and makes awful decisions. But it's a totally ineffective comparison because they have no business being in the same movie together. Their story lines don't ever meet or impact each other in any significant way.

What's frustrating is that the setup is there for so many great potential story lines, but practically all of them dwindle away into nothing. Without any follow through the movie is nothing but a drag.


There are some great moments that I can appreciate as a writer. When the signups are happening for the butter carving competition, there is a long rope maze of an entrance way. As each character enters the room to sign up, they tackle the rope maze a different way. It's a subtle detail, and I find it delicious to reveal character that way. Unfortunately the one thing that scene doesn't do is make me laugh.

Butter is a good movie if you want to see what goes wrong in a script from page to screen. It's not enough to rely on selling points like big characters and an unusual setting. Without a worthwhile story, and maybe even more importantly, without jokes this movie is a big miss.


IMDb - Butter (6,3)
Wikipedia - Butter 
Rotten Tomatoes - Butter (33%)
Amazon.ca - Butter

REVIEW: Contagion

8/10 - Gravy

Contagion is the story about a contagion that becomes contagious. I actually confused this with Quarantine before I saw the movie. How hilarious. Please don't watch Quarantine.

Really, it's a multi-linear story that uses several points of view to explore the devastation that happens globally during this event. The disease is the main character, no doubt.

I really like Steven Soderbergh and I never realized it until this year. It's a real genuine shame that he is retiring this year because the last batch of movies he has done have been really inspiring, bright, and intelligent. Many of Steve's movies have not been getting the hype they deserve and I think this is one of them.

It takes great skill and restraint to illustrate the widespread effects, with only those characters that appear on the poster. I was deeply invested in these people and had no idea it was happening. Contagion has a cold and calculated feel, from the calculated roll-out of the relief efforts. It's hyper realistic but heartfelt. There are no exaggerated wide camera shots of riots or violence for the sake of violence.

Certainly when there is a star studded cast, some actors don't shine like the others, but I didn't see that in this movie. It was an outstanding cast from clinical Kate Winslet who shines in quiet moments, to the complicated Jude Law who portrays a character you either hate or love. I think the only actor who I was unhappy with was surprisingly Matt Damon. I'm not sure he reached the emotional level to make me believe what was happening at the beginning of the movie. Granted, that's likely a writing or directional choice. I think Matty makes up for it with the rising panic, and he grounds the movie unlike any other character.

I'm not sure I have a whole lot else to say about Contagion. It was great, but maybe a little cold. I want more movies like this, with creative and unique stories. It's thoughtful, scary, fast paced and emotional. Everyone should see it.

IMDB - Contagion (6.7)
Wikipedia - Contagion
Rotten Tomatoes - Contagion (84%)
Amazon.ca - Contagion

REVIEW: Margin Call

8/10 - Great movie, great cast, surprising gem.

I don't often find movies that I think are going to be fast paced dramas that will satisfy the adult side of my brain.

Margin Call is an independent movie that peers into the world of the investment banking over a two day period. A very specific two days. It's the tipping domino that sent the US markets crashing in 2008. It's fascinating, brilliantly written, compelling, curious, devastating, and chaotic. 

I often talk about the predictability factor in movies, because to me that can make or break. A movie like this seems to break free of predictability because it's so character driven. I can only presume that the trailer or advertisements would reveal that the story revolves around the stock market crash. I had the great fortune of watching this based only on title and reviews, however the journey becomes clear early on, and that only serves to raise the stakes, instead of spoil the ending.

I am thrilled to see Kevin Spacey, Zachary Quinto, and Stanley Tucci play characters with so much texture go through something morally ambiguous, and deeply troubling. I don't think I've ever looked at an actor playing a corporate banker and initially felt sympathy for them. It's a real testament to the writing to take a movie filled with those characters, and not only make some sympathetic, but to clearly explain what's happening within the company, and make it dramatic. 

Is this movie without fault? No. It takes a good 20 minutes for the story to get in full swing, and I had to push through it to get to the goods. It's also quite depressing, overall. It has a little inkling of being too soon, and hitting too close to home. However, that only serves to push the tension of the movie, so maybe it's good. 

I would absolutely recommend this to anyone who wants to see a good drama. It's engaging and emotional, while being smart and concise.

IMDB - Margin Call
Wikipedia - Margin Call
Rotten Tomatoes - Margin Call (88%)
Amazon.ca - Margin Call