The Butterfly Effect
Cinematography:
Matthew F. LeonettiComposer:
Michael SubyCast:
Ashton Kutcher, Amy Smart, Melora Walters, Eric Stoltz, John Patrick Amedori, Elden Henson, Kevin G. Schmidt, Kevin Durand, William Lee Scott, Ethan Suplee (more)VOD (3)
Plots(1)
Evan (Ashton Kutcher) makes the incredible discovery that he can use the notebooks as a vehicle enabling him to journey back into the past so that his adult mind occupies the body of his childhood self. He begins a series of attempts to re-direct history with the aim of saving his friends and loved ones from the traumas that have befallen them. But every time Evan changes something in the past, however small, he finds when he returns to the present that his actions have had unexpected and disastrous consequences. The harder he tries to make things go right, the less able he seems to create a reality that allows him and Kayleigh (Amy Smart) to live happily ever after. (Icon Home Entertainment)
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Reviews (13)
Constant hopelessness and despair in a perfect package of time jumps and the ensuing catastrophes. Back when The Butterfly Effect was still an unknown video cult film, I found myself standing stunned in front of the screen, because a directorial debut like this is a miracle. There are few movies where the viewer wishes more for a happy ending, because there are too many constant bad ones for one nervous system. True happiness can only be achieved through sacrifice.
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The psycho beginning aside, this is a nice and sensual film. However, I was quite confused in the first few minutes and had absolutely no idea who was getting the beating. Then it got clearer and I couldn't stop staring. Ashton Kutcher played like we haven't seen him before and Amy Smart was a great partner for him. I experienced that killing feeling of helplessness with them to the maximum. And it scares me just to think that someone would sacrifice themselves for me like that without me ever knowing about it. I even shed a tear at the end. Nice, 4 stars.
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During the first act the chills made a car track out of my back, about halfway through I had no idea were it was going and the unexpected shifts in the plot kept me on my toes, and by the end I was one more satisfied viewer. A dense atmosphere, excellent direction and an interesting story make The Butterfly Effect a movie that won't let you catch your breath. Then even the logical holes in the script and the fact that the theme of temporal paradoxes is not revelatory (and has been handled better in many other movies) can be forgiven. This film has a lot of appeal. And, by the way, Amy Smart is gorgeous.
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Where its genre brothers (for instance, 12 Monkeys or Donnie Darko) in their complexity are just starting to warm up they’re wheels of logic, The Butterfly Effect with its “plot based and time paradox" line are still standing at a red light. Even so, it’s still a good movie, especially in the first half. After that the screenwriters (and, because they also directed it, the directors too) start running out of breath and ideas, while Kutcher runs out of talent. The whole movie starts to sink into the waters of mediocrity, with one cliché after another, and only thanks to the timely ending it didn’t sink even lower.
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I was definitely expecting more from this film, at least based on the reviews, the word of mouth and the audience reviews. But after it was over, I thought it was pretty obvious how this was going to end, so what's so bombastic about it? It's definitely a good subject, but they could have gleaned a whole lot more from it.
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