Thought provoking and entertaining, Kutcher's best

Rating: Null/10 (10 July 2004)

Do we have free will, or are we the toy soldiers of a deterministic universe? What is the concept of the self and how isolated from life-shaping events is it. The powerful drama and psychological thriller, The Butterfly Effect, asks these questions and in two hours delivers some pretty hefty possible answers. Despite film critics pans, this is Aston Kutcher as you've never seen him before: a wide range, subtle delivery and engrossing watchability. There are also steady contributions from the supporting cast, especially Amy Smart as the love interest and Melora Walters as the mother.
Bress and Gruber tell the story in nested, multiple-flashback/forward sequences, with clues and events of future significance scattered across the story line in an mostly cohesive package. The most gaping hole is that the hero ignores his love interest for about seven years before becoming completely devoted to her again, and this is not explored or explained as a result of some life-shaping event. There are some other round corners too, but the scope of the movie is so large and the issues it takes on so philosophically fundamental, that we can easily overlook these necessary shortcuts.
I strongly recommend obtaining the DVD version which contains the director's cut. This version delivers the unadulterated message with full impact, as opposed to the theatrical version and therein may lie the disagreement I have with the critics. The reviews were probably aimed at this watered down version.
Some fiction is so defining it redeems the role of fiction as way to explore beyond the mundane, and reminds us of the limitations of the documentary. This movie is one for your collection.