‘The Butler Brothers are creative again’

Following their ABC trilogy came their “The Notorious Newman Brothers”, a mockumentary centered on the life of two clumsy wiseguys. It was a film that lacked the spirit of previous Substance Productions films. It wasn’t original nor was it funny. But here are the Butler brothers with a new idea: a web series called “Larry and Burt’s Gut Rot.” Episode 1 aired on the worldwide web just a little over a week ago. The series focuses on two central characters: a pizza delivery man with little manners and another guy who is desperately trying to deal with the frustrations of a recent break-up. The characters are imperfect but we accept them because they feel very real. This is one of the Butler Brothers’ strongest qualities as writers. We feel as though we know these characters because we’ve all, at some time or another, have had to deal with a broken heart or that strange deliveryman who shows up at our door.

The Butler Brothers are back in full form. There “The Notorious Newman Brothers” went for cheap laughs and did very little to entice viewers visually. However, this time around, the humor works and the laughs keep coming. But the biggest surprise rests in the visual style of the series. At one point, a thought cloud surfaces and then it disappears. What’s special about this scene is the way the cloud disappears. It’s a small detail, a neat little editing trick, but adds to the creativity and fun. Then there is the commercial for a fictitious restaurant named “Upper Crust”, a commercial that features one of the show’s central characters (zany creativity reminiscent of The Sarah Silverman Program).

“Larry and Burt’s Gut Rot” contains all the elements we expect to see in a Butler Brothers production: humor, crudeness, and a dose of realism. The Butler Brothers have a good idea between their hands and one can only hope they’ll continue to build on that concept. The actors are terrific and the direction, simply perfect. One thing is certain: the Butler Brothers are driving on the right side of the road again with “The Notorious Newman Brothers” in their rear-view mirror, fading in the distance. It’ll be interesting to see where they go with this.

Feel free to watch Episode 1 of “Larry & Burt’s Gut Rot” on YouTube at the following URL: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ESsprRAqL68&feature=youtu.be