DREAMCATCHER for the new year...

Rating: Null/10 (13 February 2004)

The Butterfly Effect (2004)
*1/2 (R)
BY JASON YOUNG
Science fiction often utilizes time travel to explore the chaos theory. The butterfly effect is an aspect of that theory which states that a butterfly could cause a hurricane half way around the world simply by flapping its wings. This intriguing principle is applied to the lives of four seemingly life-long friends in the ultimately ridiculous thriller The Butterfly Effect.
Evan Treborn has journals documenting his childhood that he reverts back to while in college. When Evan reads a passage, he is somehow launched back in time to the event described on the page. He is then able to relive what happened in the past, change its outcome, and, therefore, alter the present.
`Great Scott!'
Why would someone want to play God, you ask? Enter Kayleigh Miller, Evan's childhood sweetheart. We see their relationship as children in early flashback sequences, as well as in a reunion outside of Kayleigh's current workplace. Evan has suffered from blackouts his whole life, so he asks Kayleigh about what really happened years ago when Kayleigh's father made a home movie of Robin Hood with them. Later that night, Kayleigh is driven to suicide over her conversation with Evan. And so it beginsÂ…
Everyone knows who Ashton Kutcher is: whether it is from his role on `That 70s Show' or as the host of MTV's `Punk'd' or even alongside Demi Moore in any tabloid across the country. Within these, excluding the latter, he is best known for his comedic style. Working primarily dramatically, Ashton makes what is known as a star turn in The Butterfly Effect, but where it has worked for other comedians, like Robin Williams, Bill Murray, and even Adam Sandler, it fails for Ashton. His performance isn't bad; it just isn't one to convince audiences that he is a serious actor.
I was reminded greatly of Lawrence Kasdan's Dreamcatcher throughout much of The Butterfly Effect. Both have the ambition to become great movies, but clearly they are not. They are abundant with bad acting, bad writing, and even worse direction. Although, Dreamcatcher does one-up The Butterfly Effect in one crucial element: no matter how outlandish the situation is in Dreamcatcher, you always believe that the four main characters are friends. We never really feel this about the four in The Butterfly Effect. Also in Dreamcatcher, we see how their parts in an alien invasion affect the whole world. While in The Butterfly Effect, their lives seem to have no effect on anyone but themselves.
If the characters in The Butterfly Effect don't seem to have much of a reason for living, should we feel as if we have any reason to spend $10 to watch them?