A real downer

Rating: 3/10 (22 July 2006)

This movie did not start out on the wrong foot. A child growing up who suffers periodic blanks in his memory when parts of his and his friends' lives take very traumatic turns. Unfortunately, after Evan found out a way to remedy all this by using his diaries, it goes downhill from there. His efforts seemed very compulsive, clumsy, and sloppy with little forethought, which might be understandable for the first couple of time jumps but frankly gets old after a while. Every change made screws up more and more of his life preventing him from fixing the previous mistakes he made as he is no longer able to write the diaries from that point on. Finally, at the end, unlike in the movie "Groundhog Day", he just plain gives up (in both the theatrical and director's cut).
The director's cut, while probably more in the spirit of this dark, depressing film, was even worse than the theatrical, not only because of the ending but also the creepy fortuneteller and sickening political correctness. You could think of that version as the ultimate twisted antithesis of "It's a Wonderful Life".
I mean, come on. Life isn't a bowl of cherries, but it isn't a bowl of offal either. If everyone thought the way the directors of this movie did, the human race would be doomed to extinction. And if you're trying to simply send the message that messing around with time can change the future in ways you don't want, the body of the movie did that in spades, making the failed ending unnecessary. Murphy's Law prevails throughout the film, with no respite and to a rather ridiculous degree. Two thumbs down.
Also, I would keep this movie away from children. It's rated R for a reason. And if you're an adult, only see it if you're a perpetual optimist or high on Prozac.