Good Entertainment, Interesting Story

Rating: 8/10 (17 February 2004)

I enjoyed this movie. I mean, come on, it is a movie after all, not some thesis on chaos theory. The story, action, and cinematography were intriguing enough to hold my interest through the entire length. I keep hearing about the negative revues of the lead actor, Ashton Kutcher. I am not sure what is driving these opinions but I suspect it stems from the usual chain reaction to stay in the popular conversation circles and what better topic then someone else's dirty laundry, personal tragedy, or shocking lifestyle. I see a negative bias toward the past film roles and the personal life of Mr. Kutcher that, where this film is concerned, I simply do not understand. I do not know much about Mr. Kutcher's career or personal life but I do know that he did a fine job in this film. Amy Smart impressively portrayed the widely varied `effectual' traits of her character. The rest of the cast also did a fine job as well. The special effects are no big deal but they do not need to be. The gruesome implications of some of the scenes are carried off without any real gore but are just as psychologically effective. The sound track is effective as well with all the right shock-bytes in all the right places. No Oscars here but camp followings can be much better than an industry award anyway and I foresee a following with this effort. Does Butterfly Effect inspire profound wisdom or answer some elusive universal mystery of life? No, but it does entertain. The idea behind the story did get me thinking about the events and milestones throughout my life and how they coursed via a potentially infinite array of choices, circumstance, happenstance and dumb luck. I did not walk away from the show so much thinking about the past or how I would change things if I could, no. I walked away thinking more about how the choices and possibilities of the future should maybe get a little more attention. I thought about these things, both in and out of our control, how far their `Effect' might possibly be felt. Is this a movie about time travel? No, it is a movie about how much our lives intertwine with each other, with nature, and with our environment. The message? Always consider the effects that all of the actions of all of us have on all that is within and around us. use the effects of the choices in our past as examples to help in our future decisions.