Spinning Into Butter

Sarah Daniels teaches in a Lancaster School, which is predominantly occupied by minorities, especially blacks. She soon develops a deep hatred and prejudice, even fear, against blacks, and avoids them even in public transportation. When she finds out about a vacancy in Belmont College in Vermont, she re-locates there. But her past will be put to the test when she is ironically labeled a liaison person for the minorities, as well as asked to prepare a 10 point list to resolve racism, after an African American student, Simon Black, becomes a victim of hate crime.

She will also realize that before she was hired, the Management expected her to be black.

Subsequently, she herself will question her prejudice as well as the Management's 'lip service' response to the hate crime amidst heavy media presence, and growing restlessness and hatred amongst the student body.

Quite frankly, one can only laugh out loud at the naivety shown by the school management in asking a lecturer to prepare a document titled 'how to resolve racism'.

For generations, judiciary, and human rights commissions have turned a nelson's eye on this issue, and that's precisely the reason why it continues on undeterred.

One must often wonder as to why most people on one hand are contemptuous of lawyers, but respectful of judges - who at one time were themselves lawyers. Many lawyers are appointed to the judiciary by politicians - thus issues never get addressed and get even more complex in the long run. This is why people take to the streets and there is violence when concerns and issues are left unaddressed.

A thought provoking movie, and a must-watch for all.

Greetings again from the darkness. Rainy days are always a good time to take a flyer on a movie for which not much is known. I should have just stood in the rain for 90 minutes. An award winning play from Rebecca Gilman, this one is turned into an amateur production by first time director Mark Brokaw. Even the abrasive Sarah Jessica Parker deserves better.

A decent cast with SJP, Miranda Richardson, Beau Bridges and Mykelti Williamson (Bubba from Forrest Gump) can't come close to saving this one. This is a failed attempt at having us analyze our own prejudices and views on racism and political correctness. I can tell you where my prejudices lay ... on lousy, exploitive film-making.

There are hundreds of films that bring more depth and reality to the topic so don't waste a nickel on this one at the theatre or even NetFlix.

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."

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.

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.