Butter
Starring Jennifer Garner, Hugh Jackman, Yara Shahidi

This saucy comedy about “sex, greed, blackmail and butter” has several hilarious one-liners and some great visual gags, such as a butter sculpture of a dinosaur eating a girl. But as a satire, Butter should have had more bite. Laura Pickler (Garner) is a social-climbing wife of butter sculptor Bob (Ty Burrell) who will stoop to new lows to win the Iowa State Championship. Butter stoops to some lows too, incorporating a dumb subplot about Brooke (Olivia Wilde), a stripper with designs on Bob and his money, who becomes sexually involved with Laura and Bob’s daughter. Another lame storyline involves Laura’s efforts to use her old flame Boyd (Jackman) to beat her competitor Destiny (Shahidi), an adopted 10-year-old African-American girl who shows aptitude in sculpting. Garner makes Laura a shrill, unlikable shrew; she’s more ugly than funny. Where Butter does succeed, however, is in the treatment of Laura’s saintly rival, Destiny, who has a few very witty observations as well as some terrific scenes with Ethan (Rob Corddry), her adoptive father. Shahidi has perfected some wonderfully deadpan expressions, and she easily steals the film. Butter has some nice points to make about family and finding one’s talent, but they float in a comedy that never quite congeals. Opens March 16. 3/5 stars —Gary M. Kramer

Jiro Dreams of Sushi
Starring Jiro Ono

Tucked almost secretly within a Tokyo subway station, the restaurant Sukiyabashi Jiro is internationally renowned for serving the city’s—and probably world’s—best sushi. Awarded with an insanely prestigious three Michelin stars, its founder and chef, Jiro Ono, is at 85 still perfecting the fish-and-rice experience. A frequent visitor to Japan and sushi-phile, filmmaker David Gelb has created a fast-moving, hypnotic, revealing and mouth-watering exploration of Ono’s work and life—the extensive, hand-crafted labor, quality control, relationships with fish market sources and techniques (even a lunch in the 20-seat venue starts at around $150), and, alternately, his imperfections as a human being. A workaholic, Ono’s philosophy is perfecting the one thing you do as a lifetime endeavor, but human relations do fall to the wayside. His two sons, who ultimately will carry on the family business, almost never saw their father, quite literally, while growing up (both are now in their 50s). This is fascinating stuff, with elegantly edited images to found music by Philip Glass, and Gelb holds out until the last minutes to reveal the 19-course dinner service, a concerto in its own right. See you at the sushi bar afterwards. Opens March 16. 4/5 stars —Lawrence Ferber

The Kid With a Bike
Starring Thomas Doret, Cécile de France, Jérémie Renier

Belgium’s Dardenne brothers return with possibly their best film yet, a humane, observant and gripping piece of modern neo-realist storytelling. Eleven-year-old Cyril (Doret) is deposited at a boys’ home by his father. Abandoned and dejected, the petulant and restless child decides to track down dad and, even more critically, his beloved bicycle. Enter Samantha (de France), a kindly hairdresser, who helps the wounded, increasingly aggressive Cyril in his quest. To tell more would be to spoil the completely unpredictable twists and turns up ahead. Indeed, one of the Dardennes’ talents is to provoke genuine emotional responses from what unspools onscreen—there are moments that make one’s heart sink from dread—all through a naturalistic, straightforward style without any of Hollywood’s parlor tricks. The Dardennes debated titling the film A Fairytale For Our Times, and one can understand why. The father, pursued during the film’s first act, remains unseen, a phantom, while Samantha represents a fairy-like archetype, protective and maternal. Yet the characters’ emotional lives and motives are complex and ring true, without explicit explanation. Opens March 16. 5/5 stars —Lawrence Ferber

The Salt of Life
Starring Gianni Di Gregorio, Valeria De Franciscis, Alfonso Santagata

This gently comic Italian film is like a refreshing glass of dry white wine on a cool, sunny day. Forced into early retirement, Gianni (director/co-writer Di Gregorio) has become a kindly gentleman who spends his days mostly taking care of others. He does his wife’s errands, tends to his elderly mother (De Franciscis) and walks his neighbor’s dog. Gianni does get irritated when his mother calls him to come over and fix her TV or drive his mother’s friend home—not because he has other, better things to do—but he doesn’t want to be taken for granted. His pal Alfonso (Santagata) encourages him to find a mistress—and he does long for someone to make him feel sexually desired again. Unfortunately, most of Gianni’s encounters with the opposite sex make him feel invisible. The Salt of Life is amusing and appealing as Gianni’s romantic prospects fizzle or backfire as he tries to (re)connect with various women. Save for a dumb episode in which Gianni takes an E.D. drug, Di Gregorio has made a slight but enchanting little film, with a strong sense for the rhythm of Gianni’s life. Viewers will not just relate to his dreams for love and affection, but will also hope this mensch gets what he desires. Opens March 9. 4/5 stars —Gary M. Kramer