Duck Butter

I've been using IMDB for years, and I finally created an account just to review this movie.

Duck Butter captures REAL human emotions, challenges, and conversations. In "24 hours", this movie takes you through all the things you may or may not experience when you're in love. I'm a straight gal, but these actresses represented all the nuances that every couple (regardless of sexual orientation) can experience: clinginess, irrational jealousy, unexplainable sadness, family anger that trickles down into every day life, desire for space and breathing room, and very real arguments about music.

I love that the movie represented two extremes of the human spectrum -- one person who is vivacious and care-free, and one person who is a little more mild and guarded.

You'll have fun watching these girls through the motions, and you'll feel sad and cringe-y. Somehow, no matter how crazy people drive us, we know that it was worth all the while to open our hearts to them and to just love them.

Duck Butter tells a story of two struggling artists (sigh, I know) that flee from their troubles into an intense relationship. The good part is that both Alia Shawkat and Laia Costa deliver amazing performances as reserved Naima and dramatic Sergio, respectively. The bad part is that the story elements are rather trite and the plot doesn't lead anywhere. Overall, it seems like a waste of talent. At best, Duck Butter is a movie to be enjoyed for the ride rather than the destination.

Two girls meet at a bar. One is an actor who worries about her motivation (played by Alia Shawkat, who also shares the writing credits). The other was the evening's singer at the bar (played by rising star Laia Costa). The following day they agree to try and spend a complete 24 hours in each other's company to explore their relationship.

They start out liking each other but as we learn more about them it's not so clear whether we really like them quite so much or whether they'll stay together. The characters are realistic and well acted but they have some strange attitudes and an interest in what might be described as toilet humour if it was even remotely funny - but it wasn't. Each to their own, I suppose.

Not the best accompaniment to a TV dinner. 5/10.

This film is about two women who decide to spend 24 hours together in the hope that they will skip the learning period of a relationship.

This film is directed and co-wrote by Miguel Arteta (Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day). It stars Alia Shawkat (Arrested Development) and Laia Costa (Victoria).

This films plot his ambitious and interesting, their are instances in the film where it feels like a storytelling experiment, and the cameos by Kumal Nanjiani and the Duplass brothers make for a fun part of the film.

However, the writing isn't so good, it does not capitalize on the interesting plot. The acting and directing isn't so good either, it is so plain and unimaginative.

There's nothing much more to this film than an interesting story. But I would recommend you see it just once if you like film.

6/10

I get that some people love the more fluid, unscripted type of movie-"so RAW! So real!"-but I personally find that it's really really easy to do this kind of movie badly. And bad this was: in 24 hours of the characters being together, multiple film cliches came out of the woodwork regarding women-to-women relationships, including some obsessive/intense behaviors that just felt out of place. I didn't find this movie to be as realistic as some think it is, and some scenes were just straight up tasteless and vulgar. I get that we should be impressed that all the usual relationship drama can come out in a short period of time if you spend a lot of time together (apparently this is innovative for a plot device?), but I'm just not impressed.

Call me old-fashioned, but I wanted a decent script and a more compelling story.... and some more inspired acting would have been nice. Both characters needed better development.

Finally, I can't unlearn the definition of "duck butter" after seeing this travesty of a movie, so there's that, too. Just...no.