Massive Thrills!

Rating: 10/10 (16 November 2015)

The Butterfly Effect is a home-run scored in accordance with how smart and compelling a movie can really be. Sometimes with a great script and great concept, lousy actors can really screw it all up. Having Ashton Kutcher and Amy Smart in the leads really caught everybody off guard. It showed that they can do more than just comedies.
In the best performance of his career, Ashton Kutcher gives the very well-created character of Evan. As a boy and teenager, Evan suffered from blackouts that would erase his memory from certain events. Doctors advise him to keep a journal as a way to deal with his growing disability. Throughout his childhood, he's always had a thing for Kayleigh (played by Amy Smart). Kayleigh grew up in her abusive father and violent younger brother. She had the opportunity to live with her mother, but she chose to live with her father to be close with Evan. This first chunk of the movie explores Evan's childhood and his relationships with those around him. Although dark and sometimes depressing, the story and characters are so well done that your eyes are glued to the screen. Each blackout Evan gets keeps the viewer wondering what he missed.
Eventually, Evan moves away. From then on, he gets no more blackouts and he is a successful college student studying psychology. When he stumbles upon his old journals, old wounds upon up and blackouts start happening again. In a turn of events, Evan discovers that by reading his journals, his memory can skip back to that time where he was on autopilot and change things-- ultimately time-traveling. Now the plot really takes off and the characters we are growing to care about will be transformed in unimaginable ways. As Evan changes the past, good and bad arise. Evan is a very caring man, so he tries to change the past for everyone around him.
What really makes this so awesome is its unpredictability. The viewer has absolutely no idea how Evan will change the past and how different the present will be. I was kept on the edge of my seat the whole time. Yes there is great acting and great filmmaking, but it is the character and plot development that really make this a huge treat.
4/4