Never have I been so surprised at how much I enjoyed a movie.

Butter came with no hype, no expectations. I stumbled across it on Netflix during a couch potato moment. I thought the premise was intriguing and the cast notable. What I anticipated was mild entertainment. What I got instead was a statement movie about ambition and deceit that came with brilliantly funny moments.

The movie revolves around the Iowa State Fair’s Mastery in Butter competition, dominated for years by Bob Pickler, played by Modern Family’s Ty Burrell. After Bob has used large blocks of dairy to churn out buttery replicas of The Last Supper and Schindler’s List, the fair committee asks him to step aside to allow someone else a chance to win. This does not sit well with Laura Pickler, Bob’s neurotic overreaching wife, who believes her family’s path to the Governor’s mansion is lined with butter. She decides to pick up the sculpting tools and become the next champion.

Enter a young orphan, who finds she has a talent for cholesterol laden artwork. This produces an unusual rivalry that pits an innocent reject against the ambitions of the frightening Mrs. Pickler. Others are drawn into the fallout, like the child’s adopted parents, played by the hilarious Rob Cordray and a grown up Alicia Silverstone. Some of the movies funniest moments come when Cordray attempts to reassure his adopted black child, who asserts that “all white people are crazy.”

Butter has all the betrayal, scheming, and insecurities of a presidential race. In fact, Wikipedia opined that the movie was based on the 2008 Democratic Presidential Primary. There is also sex, profanity, and hookers, which makes it even more like a political contest.

The critics were not impressed with Butter, as it was widely panned. Perhaps it wasn’t big budget enough for them. Maybe they missed the important tender moments, distracted by Laura PIckler’s ghastly depiction of a newly deceased John F. Kennedy. It’s possible they were a little too high on their horse to laugh at the borderline inappropriate jokes, like the one that involved a harsh term for lady parts. I was laughing so hard I just about fell off of both the couch and my potato.

I would butter my movie popcorn with this film any time.