Plot Outline: A young man (Kutcher) travels through time to change a disturbing past, but finds that the changes alter his future in unpredictable ways. (more)(view trailer)
User Comments:
One narratively messy, poorly directed, achingly dull movie...
(more)
Date: 19 January 2004 Summary: One narratively messy, poorly directed, achingly dull movie...
Evan Treborn (Ashton Kutcher, `Just Married') has spent his whole life
dealing with an usual and violent brain disorder which causes him to
blackout in moments of extreme anxiety. Now in college, Evan is confronted
with past traumas that bring him into contact with Kayleigh (Amy Smart,
`Rat
Race'), an old friend from his childhood whom Evan left behind just when
she
needed him the most. When Kayleigh reacts destructively to his intrusion
into her world, Evan tries to manipulate his disorder to travel back into
his past and alter pivotal moments from his childhood to create a positive
present for himself and his loved ones. Evan soon learns that shaping an
ideal present is next to impossible, and with each attempt, he sinks
deeper
and deeper into madness.
`Butterfly Effect' is one tough film to classify. It's one part dusty
`Twilight Zone' leftovers, another part time travel bonanza, and finally a
blatant attempt to allow Ashton Kutcher room to stretch his dramatic
muscles. `Effect' is a science fiction movie with `science' that is blurry
at best, and completely devoid of logic at its worst. And the fiction?
Well,
there just aren't enough clearly defined plot threads to help this messy
enterprise, leaving a tedious, drifting, hopelessly dull motion picture
experience.
`Butterfly Effect' takes its title from standard chaos theory; using the
example of a butterfly who gently flaps its wings in one part of the
world,
creating the potential for a monsoon somewhere else on the globe. Take
that
example and place it in the realm of a lovesick character using his
ambiguous powers to travel through time to fashion a perfect relationship,
and you have a fairly respectable concept for a film. I'll freely admit
that
`Effect' had me at one tiny point with its storytelling cheats and
overdramatic performances, but unremarkable directors Eric Bress and J.
Mackye Gruber aren't certain where to take their story, or even where to
start it. Using the DOA storytelling device of opening the picture with
the
climax and working backwards, it's obvious that this filmmaking duo won't
be
much help in dishing the narrative out properly. For those like me, who
require something more than nonstop shrieking sound effects and Kutcher's
various partings of his long hair to create a swirling portrait of a man
who
cannot stop messing with time, `Effect' falls pitifully short. The film
just
simply drops the audience into the action, with little interest in
explanation or even a desire to have fun with its bizarre concept.
`Effect'
drags on for what seems like 99 years, increasing its smoke screen on
proper
transitions and character development as Evan goes deeper and deeper into
his psychosis.
Making his first real step into dramatic acting, Ashton Kutcher might want
to think twice before trying this whole crying/looking determined thing
out
again. A well honed comedic actor, Kutcher is less sure footed when
`Effect'
needs a talent of decidedly more range. Granted, the screenplay and the
editing take large chunks of what Kutcher was most likely trying to
achieve
with this role and flings them to the four winds. But in certain scenes,
when the film rests squarely on Kutcher's every move, he falters
struggling
to dig deep within himself and explore the rich moral dilemmas presented
by
the story.
Since the film never truly begins, to stay interested in what occurs to
Evan
is a painfully labored journey that I simply cannot recommend. The
similarly
themed 2001 film `Donnie Darko' is a much better take on the time bending
mysteries of the brain, and far more worthy of hard-earned dollars. ----
1/10
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