Surprisingly effective thriller!

Rating: 7/10 (29 August 2004)

MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS!
The Butterfly Effect is a really good thriller. It has a fantasy/sci-fi/time travel theme that works well with the premise of the film.
Surprisingly, Ashton Kutcher did a commendable job of playing the confused twenty something trying to set things right. Normally, most cannot stand his childish prank behaviour, but the guy may have a career in the movies if he picks the right scripts. As he did so in the Butterfly Effect.
Don't expect a teen movie...the material in this flick is dark yet engaging. The R rating is well deserved....The directors cut on the DVD is very bold and stays true to the theme of the flick...I would definitely recommend the directors cut.
Plot holes aside, the movie does grip you after the first 30 minutes of back story which involves the atrocities perpetrated by and against the stars of the film as youngsters....AFter Ashton begins his blackouts the film does not let up (save for the college scenes)....A great play on time travel, psycho-analysis and chaos theory....and again the end on the directors cut is one of the best endings to a thriller in years.
Would highly recommend a DVD rental.