Toronto 2011: Harvey Weinstein Pokes Fun at Michele Bachmann and Tea Party Before 'Butter' Screening

Earlier tonight, I attended the Toronto International Film Festival's gala screening of Jim Field Smith's Butter, a comedy about Laura Pickler, an uptight housewife from Iowa (Jennifer Garner) who, incidentally, looks, talks, and acts a lot like U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.).

Pickler, whose husband was the area's butter-sculpting champion for years before being pushed aside, will stop at nothing -- including sabotaging the work of an adorable little orphan (Yahara Shahidi) -- to try to preserve the family's title and standing in the community. Anyway, prior to the start of the screening, the sexy actress Olivia Wilde, who plays a supporting role in the film, approached the podium and read the following statement from Harvey Weinstein (whose studio, the Weinstein Co., will release the film on a date still to be determined) to roars of laughter from the audience...

"In 20 years of coming to the Toronto Film Festival, I've never released a statement for a film. But I would like to take this moment to formally invite Republican Congresswoman from Minnesota and Republican presidential candidate Michele Bachmann to co-host with me the big premiere of Butter in Iowa in a few months from now. I know Michele will already be in Iowa for the caucus, so we can save some money on airfare and travel. I would, of course, be more than happy to fly in the other leading members of the Tea Party movement to make an entire day of it. We could take some math classes in the morning to help balance the budget, brush up on the Constitution in the afternoon, play some ping-pong, and then maybe some verbal ping-pong on gay rights and women's rights (especially the right to choose). But at night we can all go hand-in-hand to the premiere of Butter, a fun and important film where we'll share some popcorn and laughs. These are the kind of bipartisan effort that makes America great. I look forward to hearing from Michele, and I'm particularly looking forward to those classes on the Constitution. All my best, Harvey."

TWC plans to open the film for a one-week Oscar qualifying run Oct. 28 and then will formally release it nationwide at a later date to be determined.

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