What an amazing effect....

Rating: Null/10 (26 January 2004)

Synopsis : Having experienced black out session when he was a child, Evan Treborn (Kutcher) tries to relive incidents of his childhood to bring back his memories. Using the journals he kept as a child brings the moment back to play, more realistic than a dream.

Plot : Please note first and foremost, this movie was billed as a Horror/Drama but it falls into the Sci-fi/Drama category to me. I classify anything dealing with some form of time travel to be considered science fiction. Now, on with the show......This was an amazing movie filled with all forms of emotions; sincerity, disgust, betrayal, hopefulness and the neverending question - should one person play "god" over everyone else's lives?

Cast/Characters : I know what you are thinking, oh my, Jekyll actually sat through an Ashton Kutcher movie. Trust me, I amaze even myself. But in all honesty, he does a fantastic job in a dramatic role. You don't even realize who the actor is you are swept up in the moment. Powerful performance also by Amy Smart as we get to see her in different stages and "lives" - how she can be beautiful and glamourous in one scene and a totally wasted out drug addict in the next.
Pace : The beginning of the movie was a bit slow, but did well in building up the story of each character and allowing us to get into their heads for a moment. Once the main character was grown and in college, the rest of the movie went pretty fast, jumping from "life" to "life" smoothly. Overall smooth sailing to the end of the movie.
F/X : Not really a special effects type of movie, other than the sequences of Evan going from present time to past time. I WAS impressed with the use of sound and colors though in the movie. Depending on which person he would meet up with would determine the colors used to surround that person, wether they were happy or sad. In one scene we have a very happy, well adjusted girl surrounded by pinks and yellows and a very sunshine-sort-of-day and then within the same scene a very depressed, hurt and angry boy with just minimal colors of grey, white and black surrounding him. Truly an amazing sequence to me.

Jekyll's Final Thoughts : This was definitely a surprize movie for me. Low expectations for me entering the film in having to sit through 2 hours of Ashton turned out to be 2 hours of an emotional roller coaster of a movie. I plan to watch this one again just to grasp on some moments that left me wondering. This is a must see movie - 5 stars! Just remember that it isn't a horror movie...I can't be refunding everyone's money!!!