Overview
To this point, Ashton Kutcher has always been hit with the “funny guy” stigma, forcing him to stick with roles that have not allowed him to show his range in emotion. Others have tried to shed this stigma before and failed (Adam Sandler in Punch Drunk Love most notably). With the aide of a fantastic script and direction, Kutcher pulls it off with ease in The Butterfly Effect.

The true definition of a Butterfly Effect is the propensity of a system to be sensitive to initial conditions. Such systems over time become unpredictable, giving life to the idea of a butterfly flapping it's wings in one area of the world, causing a tornado or some such weather event to occur in another remote area of the world.
Comparing this effect to the domino effect is slightly misleading. There is dependence on the initial sensitivity, but whereas a simple linear row of dominoes would cause one event to initiate another similar one, the butterfly effect amplifies the condition upon each iteration.

The butterfly effect has been most commonly associated with the Weather system as this is where the discovery of "non-linear" phenomenon began when Edward Lorenz found anomalies in computer models of the weather. But Henri Poincaré had already made inroads into this area. Mapping the results in "phase space" produced a two-lobe map called the Lorenz Attractor. The word ‘attractor’ meaning that events tended to be attracted towards the two lobes, and events outside of the lobes are such things like snow in the desert.

The Butterfly Effect is a story of a young man who represses horrible memories and is unaware of these important events of his life. He never remembers what took place and is told to keep a daily journal in hopes that he can keep track of what goes on in his life. Fast forward from his childhood to his college days in the dorm. He happens upon his journals and begins reading them, hoping to visually bring him back to his childhood and try to recall what may have happened during his black out periods. He quickly finds out that he somehow transported himself back in time into those blocked memories and has the ability to change the past, present, and future; however, sometimes that is not always a good thing…


Review
Evan Treborn is just like every other 7 year old, always getting into mischief and generally being a carefree kid…except for one thing. Evan seems to have inherited a trait from his institutionalized father that he wishes he could give back: blackouts. Whenever Evan experiences anything traumatic, he blocks it out and has no memory of what occurred. Most would think this sort of defense mechanism would be a Godsend, but would you really like having empty holes in your memory, not having the slightest idea of what went on?

When Evan surprises his mother time after time again, she realizes that something needs to be done. She brings him to a therapist who worked with Evan’s father trying to help him gain control of his life. He confirms her worst fears that Evan does exhibit similar symptoms to that of what his father experienced. In order to combat the blackouts, he suggests that Evan keep a diary of his day to day activities, citing it would help him be able to keep track of what is going on while at the same time enabling him to be able simultaneously jog his memory.

We jump ahead to where Evan is presently, which is at college. One telling scene shows Evan in the classroom and his interaction with a professor, which shows us that he still does suffer from some (doesn’t explain yet to what extent) memory loss, but that he has it under control. He is a psych major and is doing an experiment on plants and their memory. He happens upon his childhood journals and begins reading them.

He quickly realizes that there are periods of times that are unaccounted for and wants to know what happened during those blackouts. As Evan digs deeper into the unrecorded events, he is overcome with a dizzying feeling and quickly finds himself back in time, right where his journal entries drifted off. He is back in the events that he repressed and could not access. He is not dreaming though; he is physically there and has an extremely unique opportunity to change what went wrong. Evan quickly realizes that by being transported back into his childhood, he can alter the events that he blocked from his memory. He has a chance to save the love of his life, Kayleigh, and her brother Tommy from being subjected to unknown horrors at the hands of their pedophile father, as well as his best friend, Lenny, who experiences something so tragic that it is as if he is in a living coma.

Evan plays God by changing the past and in turn sets off the movie’s namesake, a Butterfly Effect. By fixing one person’s life, he in turn could be shattering another’s. Before long, he finds himself in a whirlwind of presents, not fully knowing what the next future will have in store for him. Evan is faced with the hardest decision of his life when he realizes in order to restore things to the way they should be, he might have to choose to live a life without the one person he loves with all of his heart and soul.

Will he choose a life where his friends are unhappy and one where he is enjoying life to the fullest, or will he commit a most unselfish act and make everyone else’s lives the way they should be, even if it means he will lose his one true love?

Acting
From the moment I saw the first preview of this movie, I was blown away. Not just because of the concept the producers were trying to sell me in 45 seconds, but because I knew that this could be the movie that makes or breaks Ashton Kutcher as a legitimate actor. Did it work? Some say yes, some say no. I think he was amazing. We’re all used to seeing him be the goofy character he always seems to become in movies like Dude, Where’s My Car?, My Boss’s Daughter, Just Married, and even the hit TV series That 70’s Show. Whenever anyone that plays this type of character tries to jump into something more serious there are a lot of doubts, especially from the naysayers out there. Adam Sandler tried it with Punch Drunk Love, which was slammed at the box office, a place that is a second home to Sandler. Some people really loved that movie, but for the most part, the masses spoke and everyone listened. Perhaps that was because that script was shoddy at best and it was written as if someone was tripping on acid the entire time, but many times when actors attempt this sort of thing, they are never given a fair second chance. Robin Williams tried the serious route after decades of comedy with movies like Good Will Hunting, What Dreams May Come, Patch Adams (comedy/drama), 1-Hour Photo, and Insomnia, and he came away smelling like roses. That shows the kind of range an actor needs to be able to switch gears and jump from one genre into another that is totally different. Kutcher exuded confidence in what he was doing on the screen and there were flashes of brilliance in there. What would really be interesting would be to see how he would act in place of Robin Williams (1-Hour Photo would be perfect), and compare the two. I think you’ll find the similarities to be remarkable.

Now, is Ashton Kutcher the next Denzel? Clooney? Robin Williams? Who knows. Many people and signs point to “No”, but I believe he’ll have a lot of success if he selects scripts that would be more suited for him rather than snatching up anything his agent would throw at him.

Kutcher is fairly convincing for the most part and I think this was a great script and movie to introduce him to drama. He has a lot of potential that can definitely be improved upon, but if he sticks to more serious roles, the blockbuster deals won’t be far behind. When that happens, it’ll feel like he Punk’d all of us.

Amy Smart was perfect for the role of Kayleigh. Because of the way the script was written, she needs to act very differently for every character she is playing and she does it beautifully. She is probably the most interesting character in the film, because the movie centers around her and how Kutcher’s character is in a constant state of trying to improve her life. Most famous and widely known for the whipped cream scene in Varsity Blues, Smart has engrossed herself in her work and it is showing on the big screen. On tap for 2004, she still has Starsky and Hutch, as well as the upcoming Blind Horizon which she co-stars with Val Kilmer, Neve Campbell, and Sam Shepard.

John Patrick Amedori played young Evan. He’s also been in Unbreakable and Almost Famous. Although he hasn’t been in much yet, he’ll get his turn. He isn’t just filling in as an extra, he is taking roles that will in turn make him a better actor and set him up for scripts and films that will bring the best out in him (i.e.: the opposite of MacCauley Culkin).

Irene Gorovaia was brilliant as young Kayleigh. Her chemistry with Amedori was apparent and it definitely helped them show the vast ranges of emotion required for the film. Gorovaia has had small roles in The Royal Tenenbaums and It Runs in the Family, and so this is a much bigger, more focused role that she needed to get used to. She was brilliant and I have a feeling the future is very bright for her.

It’s amazing how young actors and actresses can define an entire movie. Haley Joel Osment has become the epitome of what it is like to be an amazing child actor. In his roles in Sixth Sense and Pay It Forward, Osment has redefined the role of child acting, and how important it has quickly become as far as ‘selling’ the movie. Both Amedori and Gorovaia played huge roles in making this an enjoyable and almost believable film.

Directing
J. Mackye Gruber and Eric Bress are two brilliant screenwriters that feed off each other very well. Having written both the story and screenplay for Final Destination 2, and now The Butterfly Effect, they decided to take it a step further and take a chance at directing. Just from FD2 and BE, we can see that Gruber and Bress refuse to settle for any story that isn’t twisted in one way, shape, or form. They remind me of the Brothers Grimm in a way, where they can’t just have a happy little story, they need to tweak it and contort it until it loses almost all shape.

Many people criticize Gruber and Bress for not getting into the science about the Butterfly Effect and explaining the physical nature of it, how it occurs, and what it all means. I think if they spent any more time than I did in the Overview of this review, I think the point of the movie would have been lost on everyone and it would have bombed. Also, if you can think of an easy way to incorporate that sort of information into a movie and make it flow well, by all means send Gruber and Bress your ideas. Maybe you’ll be the 3rd person that makes the dynamic duo a trio. Instead, the viewers are forced to do something little kids do all the time: imagine. Imagine that it is possible and take science entirely out of it. If you can do that, you’ll have no issues with the movie and where it takes you.

It’s a very dark movie, but what do you expect from the writers of Final Destination 2, where stylistic killing and gore is at a premium? I don’t expect them to become the next Tim Burton, but I do expect we’ll see some more interesting films and stories coming down the pipe for years to come. There is definitely a niche for this kind of movie making, and that group of people will eat it up.

Final Thoughts
The Butterfly Effect is one of those movies that leaves you thinking and wondering long after the lights come on. If you liked Back to the Future 2, this might be the movie for you. Similar in a lot of instances, you’ll enjoy seeing Ashton shed the funny guy stigma as he moves onto bigger and better things.

HYNDSY Rating: 4 out of 5 Planets


Talk about The Butterfly Effect>>

Compare Prices Now>>