Spinning Into Butter

In "Spinning Into Butter," a small ivy-covered college in Vermont, known for its liberal views and tolerant policies, is rocked by a racial incident aimed at a recently enrolled black student. Soon the incident has exposed a vein of racism running through the faculty and student body that has long lain hidden beneath a veneer of white liberal guilt and political correctness.

Sarah Jessica Parker plays Sarah Daniels, the newly arrived Dean of Students who has to take the lead in quelling the crisis, but who may have issues of her own regarding race to deal with. Veteran actor Beau Bridges also appears as a fellow dean.

Based on the play by Rebecca Gilman (who co-wrote the screenplay with Doug Atchinson), "Spinning Into Butter," directed by Mark Brokaw, starts off with the best of intentions, pinpointing some of the complexities inherent in an issue we too often sweep under the rug in an effort to avoid dealing with it. And the movie does an effective job highlighting the irony that sometimes it is the very well-intentioned efforts we make to try to alleviate the negative effects of racism - quotas, forced integration, segregation in the name of "cultural pride" etc. - that wind up actually exacerbating the problem in the end. The film also makes the rather provocative case that even in a mostly white, socially liberal enclave like Vermont, racism still exists, though since it is rooted more in the subconscious, it is more likely to manifest itself in covert rather than overt ways there. It's a daring and risky theme and one the filmmakers should be congratulated for at least having the courage to bring out in the open.

However, noble intentions notwithstanding, the heavy-handed approach the movie takes towards the topic ultimately robs it of much of its effectiveness. Too often the characters sound less like real people than like spokespersons for individual causes. Moreover, the staging of events is frequently awkward, the drama needlessly contrived. And the resolution of the conflict, quite frankly, borders on the preposterous. Additionally, the performances, with the exception of Parker's, lack any mitigating trace of polish and finesse.

There's no denying that there are moments of quality scattered throughout the film, and that the autumnal New England scenery is absolutely lovely (though a very small part of the exteriors were filmed - seamlessly, I might add - at the high school in Los Angeles where I work). Yet, sad to say, "Spinning Into Butter" emerges as probably the clunkiest and most self-satisfied examination of race relations in America since the urban drama "Crash."

From the opening credits, this movie made me cringe at almost every scene. The movie centers around a racial incident on the campus of a fictional small rural Vermont college. Of course the college stands in as a symbol of a majority White community, and the racial incident unavoidably escalates into a small media frenzy. Thus the stage is set for all the players to act and reveal their views on the issue of race. Of course the viewer immediately sees through the "characters", and starts interpreting the views of the writers and producers themselves. That's the whole issue about race: people are very aware of the differences between their views and other people's views about it. So, as the story unfolds and more and more stereotypes about race and stereotypical reactions to race are paraded out, I asked myself, who does this movie serve? Who does this movie not offend? It was obvious the script tries to represent both sides of the fence, in an "equal-time" manner. Amazingly enough, they even voiced the politically incorrect side, in a qualified way. Everyone in the movie is a caricature of their race. Largely, though not entirely predictable as you watch it, it still fits the stereotype of how race is allowed to be discussed in film. But ultimately, outside any moral of "racism is inevitable", or "racism is bad", the film makes no point itself. Sure, it might succeed on the level about getting "people to talk about race", but as the movie shows, why is that such a great idea?

Wow, where do I even begin with everything that's wrong with this piece of garbage? Possibly one of the worst screenplays/plays ever written, this racially charged drama tries hard to make you think and feel for the characters when all you can think about is "why is race such a big issue here?" The entire film didn't make any sense. Unrealistic situations and unrealistic characters didn't help much either. Every white person is racist, according to this film. Every black person is racist as well, according to this. Same goes for everyone else. Including the so-called "New Yoricans" as one dumb ass student likes to call himself.

I don't get angry at films for any reason. Stupid teen comedies are that - just stupid. I hate them as well. Gruesome, bloody horror films are generally terrible, but then again, it's hard to get mad about something that's so fake. This film is the best example of a film that can truly get my blood pumping with rage because it gets everything so wrong.

According to this, every white person looks down on every other race - especially blacks. As a white man (who's closest friends were of all different races - white, black, Puerto Rican, including the love of my life who's black), this deeply offends me. It's the same as saying every German wants to maim or kill a Jew and every Muslim wants to strap a bomb to themselves and blow up a building or plain. Those stereotypes just aren't true; so neither are these crap accusations that this film is making. The screenwriter should be shot for this angering time waster.

Watch it only to see my point. Especially about the completely avoidable racial tensions. Other than that, I would strongly suggest you skip it entirely.

Usually I would never tell someone not to watch a film that I really don't like because for all I know I could be turning them off of the greatest film they've ever seen. It doesn't matter what it is. This movie is the rarest of exceptions.

This movie's concept is thought-provoking, however the execution of the point it is trying to make gets lost somehow. In some way I think it is the actors chosen for this film -- maybe it would've worked better if they were mostly unknowns. Because what the viewer needs here is the ability to understand that the characters depicted in the story are not stereotypes. And yet they are portrayed as such to a great extent and it just didn't add up to the kind of depth that ought to be there to sufficiently address racism. Anyway the movie felt stunted, and for some reason I found it hard to believe that the actors themselves, for the most part, believed what the characters they portrayed were saying. Yes, there was the attempt to portray how hypocritical the college professors and professionals were and how sensitive the minority students were to prejudicial slights. I just got the impression that something more intrinsic to the entire situation was missing.

Interestingly Sarah Jessica Parker did eventually come across as believable. Everyone else i thought was on another planet and it all felt disjointed.

This film is not bad per se -- the story itself is intriguing in that it does try to depict racism. I found it hard to believe on some level that a college would react so oddly.

Nah, didn't like this one at all. Political correctness on campus is the subject. There was some decent moments but there were many more ridiculous ones.The guy that is gonna be given a 10,000 dollar scholarship comes to mind. The scholarship is especially for minorities, and hes practically already been given it but he's got to write in his ethnicity on the form - he says 'new yorican' or something like that. Teacher says write hispanic or Porto rican. He doesn't want to. She talks him into it - I mean, come on man, you're gonna get 10 grand - Anyway, he agrees on Porto rican...But then he comes back again and again with the same problem - wants his ethnicity to be written as new yorican. The scene seemed ridiculous the first time... but to have the same scene come up 2 more times made me want to cry.

I didn't feel anything for any of the characters - Bad script, bad acting - All a bunch of cardboard cut outs. On the whole, a poor film, poor plot.Only watch if there's eff all else on the box.