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Spinning Into Butter
Year: 2009
Director: Mark Brokaw
Studio: Screen Media Films
Stars: Sarah Jessica Parker, Miranda Richardson, Mykelti Williamson
MPAA Rating: R
Running Time: 89 Mins.


“Spinning into Butter” is about a hate crime that takes place in a New England college, where a black student is being harassed. The incident has an effect of the new Dean of Students (Sarah Jessica Parker), as she has to investigate these claims, while having to examine her self-feelings and thinking about the actions that have been haunting her from her last job. She gets help from a black reporter (Mykelti Williamson), who is trying to get the bottom of this story. It’s a film that examines the fallout of prejudice that still lingers today, in this country. The film also co-stars Beau Bridges, Victor Rasuk, and Miranda Richardson.

Going into this film, I was hoping that the critics were wrong about “Spinning into Butter”. This film has a talented cast that includes Sarah Jessica Parker, Mykelti Williamson, Beau Bridges, and Miranda Richardson. Sadly, this was a painful film to watch.

“Spinning into Butter” felt like one of those educational films that you would see on an afternoon school special. This is a film that had no emotion. Mark Brokaw’s direction felt like a Broadway play, which ironically enough is based on. He doesn’t make any attempt to pour some emotion into any of the action that goes on. The tone of the film was on a continuous loop and drowned any energy the film had. The performances here weren’t very good either. It was like everyone phoned their performances in, as they seemed disinterested with the material and the direction that they were given. Brokaw’s direction of Sarah Jessica Parker was just horrible, as it looked like she had the same lifeless expression throughout the whole film.

The screenplay written by Rebecca Gilman and Doug Atchison is one of the weakest screenplays that I’ve come across this year. The reason for that is simple, the screenwriters don’t develop the characters. It was like; they wanted to focus on the serious topic, for the whole ninety minute running time. I know that this is a serious issue that the writers are trying to get across, but every scene dealt with that topic. After awhile, the message gets repetitive. It’s also the reason why I didn’t care about the characters or their development. The reason it hurts both aspects, the message comes at the expense of getting to know the characters. That hurts your enjoyment of the film and makes you not what to care about the message. It also detracted from the story, which I never cared about either. The messages that the screenwriters get across, becomes very preachy, which makes you lose sight of the story and waiting endlessly, for the film to end.

“Spinning Into Butter” is a film that disappoints on all levels, as this feels more like a made for television film that should have been released on television, instead of DVD.

Review Rating: One Star