Butter (Blu-ray) (2011)

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General		Extras
Category	Comedy	Main Menu Audio & Animation Deleted Scenes Outtakes
Rating
Year Of Production	2011
Running Time	90:31
RSDL / Flipper	Dual Layered	Cast & Crew
Start Up	?
Region Coding	4	Directed By	Jim Field Smith
Studio Distributor	Roadshow Home Entertainment	Starring	Hugh Jackman Olivia Wilde Ashley Greene Jennifer Garner Rob Corddry Alicia Silverstone
Case	?
RPI	?	Music	Mateo Messina

Video		Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame	Pan & Scan	English DTS HD Master Audio 5.1
Widescreen Aspect Ratio	1.78:1
16x9 Enhancement
Video Format	1080p
Original Aspect Ratio	2.35:1	Miscellaneous
Jacket Pictures	No
Subtitles	English	Smoking	No
		Annoying Product Placement	No
		Action In or After Credits	Yes, outtakes

     Comedy must be one of the hardest genres to get right because there are so many comedies that just don't work. This film is a good example of what I am talking about; it has a good cast and a premise which should be funny in an absurd and satirical way. The premise of butter carving competitions in Iowa should provide the same sort of comedy as Christopher Guest films like Best in Show or A Mighty Wind. Unfortunately , I think this film doesn't really commit to its premise, preferring to add another story line about a young African American orphan girl looking for a foster family which adds a layer of sentimentality which goes against the basically satirical concept of the film .

     Anyway the basic story construct is that Bob Pickler (Ty Burrell of Modern Family) has been Iowa State Champion butter carver for 15 years straight. His wife Laura Dean (Jennifer Garner) is very ambitious, seeing butter carving as a first step to Bob becoming governor. The organisers of the state fair approach Bob to suggest that he stand aside to allow younger carvers a chance to win. He agrees but Laura does not accept his decision. Annoyed with his wife, Bob goes to a strip club and ends up having sex with one of the dancers, Brooke (Olivia Wilde). Meanwhile, a young African American orphan girl, Destiny, gets fostered by a couple in Bob's home town and discovers her talent for butter carving. With Brooke pursuing Bob for the money she says he owes her and Laura deciding to enter the butter carving contest herself there is soon a three way contest for the state title between Laura, Brooke and Destiny. Who will win and will anyone retain any dignity at all?

     The cast also includes Hugh Jackman as Laura's ex-boyfriend, Boyd Bolton and Alicia Silverstone as Destiny's foster mum. There are some amusing ideas and scenes however my overall feeling after watching this film was one of disappointment because I felt the concept had some promise. Garner is suitably crazy as the wife and more should have been made of her interactions with the other characters. Burrell is also good as Bob, however the story is too disjointed to completely work not assisted by the film just not being funny enough.

     So, an interesting failure but a failure nonetheless.

Video

     The video quality is good but somewhat disappointing for Blu-ray especially since it seems to have been cropped from the OAR.

     The feature is presented in a 1.78:1 aspect ratio which is NOT the original aspect ratio of 2.35:1. Other Blu-ray releases around the world are in the correct aspect ratio. It is 1080p HD encoded using the AVC codec.

     The picture was clear and sharp throughout. Shadow detail was very good.

     The colour is excellent.

     The picture includes quite a bit of grain and digital noise at times along with a couple of spots of motion blur and some minor aliasing.

     There are subtitles in English which are in various colours to denote the different speakers.

Video Ratings Summary

Sharpness
Shadow Detail
Colour
Grain/Pixelization
Film-To-Video Artefacts
Film Artefacts
Overall

Audio

     The audio quality is good but this is certainly not a Blu-ray test disc.

     This disc contains an English soundtrack in DTS HD-MA 5.1. The audio is quite low in volume generally speaking requiring your amplifier to be turned up quite a bit. There is also a Dolby Digital 2.0 Audio Descriptive track.

     Dialogue was not perfectly audible at all times with some lines mumbled and others lost in the mix.

     The score is unimpressive but neither is it annoying.

     The surround speakers provided mostly mild atmosphere in what is a dialogue driven film.

     The subwoofer added bass to the music mostly.

Audio Ratings Summary

Dialogue
Audio Sync
Clicks/Pops/Dropouts
Surround Channel Use
Subwoofer
Overall

     A small set of extras are included.

Menu

     The menu includes scenes and music.

Deleted Scenes (8:58)

     A collection of deleted scenes which include more dialogue and exposition without really adding too much to the overall viewing experience.

Gag Reel (5:01)

    An extra set of stuff ups and improvisation in addition to those included in the end credits. Mildly amusing.

    The Region A version of this film has the same extras but is in the original aspect ratio making it the version of choice.

    The video quality is good but not in the OAR.

    The audio quality is good.

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall