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SPINNING INTO BUTTERMovie Reviews
Adaptation of the Rebecca Gilman play about a newly hired dean of students at an elite New England college who finds her life consumed by chaos following a series of hate crimes. Cast:Sarah Jessica Parker, Mykelti Williamson, Beau Bridges, Miranda Richardson, James RebhornDirector:Mark BrokawRelease Date:March 27, 2009DVD Release:June 9, 2009From:Screen Media FilmsRating:RLength:1 hr 26 min
Spinning Into Butter played in key cities to weak reviews. • Cary Darling wrote in the Dallas Morning News, "...well-intentioned but talky and overly obvious..." • And Wesley Morris wrote in the Boston Globe, "...unclear what the film wants to tell us about racism on college campuses... The movie verges on melodrama, farce, and satire, but never makes any dramatic sense." More Reviews Below...
Spinning Into Butter Positive Reviews (18 Reviews, reviews below)
Jason Lynch, People: MODERATE(cg) "...a lightweight, surface-scratching drama about a college dean coping with the aftermath of a racial incident on campus.... Sarah Jessica Parker tries valiantly..."(See all of Jason Lynch's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 53 words, 03/26/09
Thelma Adams, Us Weekly: WEAK(cg) "Sarah Jessica Parker hardly convinces as a college dean in this overly talky drama.... well-intentioned but dry... never feels like more than an after-school special."(See all of Thelma Adams's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 75 words, 03/26/09
Lisa Schwarzbaum, Entertainment Weekly: POOR(cg) "...a misshapen adaptation... A painfully miscast Sarah Jessica Parker nervously flips her hair and waves her hands, sitcom-style..."(See all of Lisa Schwarzbaum's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 94 words, 03/27/09
Claudia Puig, USA Today: GOOD (NOT GREAT)(cg) "Though the movie trails off unsatisfyingly, it raises intriguing and candid, if unanswerable, questions about race relations and political correctness."(See all of Claudia Puig's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 424 words, 03/27/09
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NEW YORK/LOS ANGELES/CHICAGO/TORONTO (6 Reviews)
Stephen Holden, New York Times: GOOD "...a smart, squirm-inducing exploration of the hidden, potentially explosive subtexts in dialogues about race and ethnicity.... less a movie than an essay."(See all of Stephen Holden's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 688 words, 03/27/09
Glenn Whipp, Los Angeles Times: FAIR "...relies on too heavy a hand. There's little subtlety in this adaptation of Rebecca Gilman's play about race issues that flare up at a small college."(See all of Glenn Whipp's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 366 words, 03/27/09
Kyle Smith, New York Post: WEAK(cg) "Lots of racial speechifying, some of it ugly, leads to no conclusion. The material is crying out for a satiric wit or at least a stronger point of view.... it's a mishmash..."(See all of Kyle Smith's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 156 words, 03/27/09
Aaron Hillis, Village Voice/LA Weekly: POOR "...a flat, over-dollied adaptation of Rebecca Gilman's sanctimonious play... Every line of dialogue sounds contrived, right up to the phony-baloney twist ending..."(See all of Aaron Hillis's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 195 words, 03/25/09
KEY CITIES (3 Reviews)
Dan Kois, Washington Post: POOR(cg) "...suffers most of all from a feeling of creeping irrelevance... shelved since filming completed in 2006, the film feels stuck in a particularly '90s-flavored argument..."(See all of Dan Kois's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 359 words, 03/27/09
Wesley Morris, Boston Globe: POOR(cg) "...unclear what the film wants to tell us about racism on college campuses... The movie verges on melodrama, farce, and satire, but never makes any dramatic sense."(See all of Wesley Morris's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 598 words, 03/27/09
ALTERNATIVE/INDIE PRESS (4 Reviews)
Aaron Hillis, Village Voice/LA Weekly: POOR "...a flat, over-dollied adaptation of Rebecca Gilman's sanctimonious play... Every line of dialogue sounds contrived, right up to the phony-baloney twist ending..."(See all of Aaron Hillis's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 195 words, 03/25/09
Betsy Sherman, Boston Phoenix: MODERATE(cg) "...director Mark Brokaw casts terrific actors -- like Miranda Richardson and Beau Bridges -- as the college muckety-mucks, then has them act like boobs."(See all of Betsy Sherman's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 162 words, 03/26/09
Tricia Olszewski, Washington City Paper: WEAK "...settles into something resembling an honest discussion about race... It's ugly, it's raw, but it feels truthful, unlike the Whac-A-Stereotype game that precedes it."(See all of Tricia Olszewski's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 350 words, 03/26/09
HIGHBROW PRESS (2 Reviews)
Stephen Holden, New York Times: GOOD "...a smart, squirm-inducing exploration of the hidden, potentially explosive subtexts in dialogues about race and ethnicity.... less a movie than an essay."(See all of Stephen Holden's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 688 words, 03/27/09
Glenn Whipp, Los Angeles Times: FAIR "...relies on too heavy a hand. There's little subtlety in this adaptation of Rebecca Gilman's play about race issues that flare up at a small college."(See all of Glenn Whipp's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 366 words, 03/27/09
MOVIE INDUSTRY (4 Reviews)
Dennis Harvey, Daily Variety: GOOD (NOT GREAT) "...earnest, talky, modestly scaled... helmer Mark Brokaw and scribe Doug Atchison (who adapted with Rebecca Gilman) open up the play effectively enough..."(See all of Dennis Harvey's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 556 words, 09/10/07
Frank Scheck, Hollywood Reporter: WEAK "What seemed sharp and pointed onstage comes across pedantically in the film, which treats its subject with a clumsy heavy-handedness."(See all of Frank Scheck's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 379 words, 03/27/09
Glenn Whipp, Los Angeles Times: FAIR "...relies on too heavy a hand. There's little subtlety in this adaptation of Rebecca Gilman's play about race issues that flare up at a small college."(See all of Glenn Whipp's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 366 words, 03/27/09
Stephen Holden, New York Times: GOOD "...a smart, squirm-inducing exploration of the hidden, potentially explosive subtexts in dialogues about race and ethnicity.... less a movie than an essay."(See all of Stephen Holden's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 688 words, 03/27/09
17.5 Percentage Points Average Difference Between Reviews (Norm is 18.4pp; <18.4pp = More Consistent; >18.4pp = More Mixed)
Spinning Into Butter's reviews are separated by an average 17.5 percentage points. The norm for this measure is 18.4 percentage points. Less than 18.4 indicates more consistent reviews; greater than 18.4 indicates more mixed reviews. In the chart below, each dot represents a review, with the dots at the top more positive than the dots at the bottom. From left to right, the dots represent reviews in big, bigger and biggest publications. Roll over each dot for more detail.
Spinning Into Butter (18 reviews) Roll over dots for each review
Coverage:Spinning Into Butter's reviews cover 46.4% of potential readers (average is 67.9%). Volume:The film's reviews total 5,489 words involume (average is 20,194 words). Length:The film's reviews average 305 words in length (the norm is 517 words).
Reviews Broke 24.5 Hours Before Release (Norm is 1.2 Release)
Spinning Into Butter's reviews on average broke 24.5 hours before opening. Norm for this measure is 1.2 hours before. The chart below shows reviews on opening day and the days before and after opening; the left side is earlier and the right side is later. The red bars extending above the horizontal mid-line represent more positive reviews, and the red bars extending below represent more negative reviews. The white space/red bar in the middle is Spinning Into Butter's opening day. Click on any bar for a list of the reviews for that day.
Spinning Into Butter (18 reviews, click on bars for reviews)
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