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Created Mar 31, 2013 11:57AM PST • Edited Apr 01, 2013 11:09PM PST

1. Quality

2. Summary

   Pretty Bad 1.5

   Butter is rancid, a comedy devoid of laughs and full of bile. No LOLs, no guffaws, not even a single smile gets triggered by its steady stream of condescension. Mean spiritedness in a comedy can work, so long as the movie brings the laughs. If it’s unfunny, then it’s just smug, catty and mean. In a word, rancid.

   The movie is about a butter carving contest at the Iowa State Fair, which would seem to be rich territory for satire. Richness doesn’t necessarily equal quality however, in movies as in cooking.

   Want to see a truly funny movie set in Iowa? Cedar Rapids is no less edgy than Butter, edgier even. But it respects its subjects even as it pillories them. Oh yeah, it’s also funny. Really, really funny.

4. Acting

   Pretty Bad 1.5

   The cast is competent dramatically. Unfortunately for them, this is a comedy.

   • Jennifer Garner co-produced this starring vehicle for herself. Whoops. Perhaps she’s seeking to emulate the bad stretch of her husband’s career.
   • Ty Burrell is simpering, not sympathetic, and certainly not funny.
   • Yara Shahidi is adorable and whip-smart as an orphaned girl. Unfortunately her charismatic performance doesn’t address the movie’s comedy deficit.
   • Rob Corddry is less annoying than usual. Funny? No.
   • Alicia Silverstone is pleasant. But the movie didn’t need more straights. It needed more comics.
   • Hugh Jackman does himself no favors as a dimwitted car dealer. Perhaps he was doing someone a favor by appearing in this bad movie.
   • Olivia Wilde is über hot as a stripper who has sex with customers, just the kind of gorgeous figment of Hollywood imagination that would never exist outside L.A.

5. Male Stars Pretty Bad 1.5

6. Female Stars OK 2.5

   Without Yara Shahidi, the other female stars deserve a rating of Bad.

7. Female Costars Bad 1.0

8. Male Costars Bad 1.0

10. Film

    Pretty Bad 1.5

    The Weinstein Company deserves a good whacking for producing a tawdry stinker like Butter. Apparently they can’t resist sliming Middle America, pitiful box office and negative reception be damned.

11. Direction Pretty Bad 1.5

12. Play Pretty Awful 0.5

13. Music Barely OK 2.0

14. Visuals Great 4.0

    The butter sculptures are amazing.

15. Content

16. Edge

    Sordid 2.6

    Butter appears non-threatening, until its nasty and erotic elements emerge.

17. Sex Erotic 2.6

18. Violence Gentle 1.4

19. Rudeness Nasty 3.7

21. Reality

    Glib 1.4

22. Circumstantial Glib 1.8

23. Biological Glib 1.4

24. Physical Natural 1.0