It should've been called-how to be excruciatingly stereotypical.

Rating: 4/10 (3 April 2004)

I was rather surprised with this movie, not expecting much from something with Ashton Kutcher in the lead. I just can't seem to him picture with him any kind of real acting ability. I just always see a Michael Kelso. But, Butterfly Effect changed my opinion a little.
The Butterfly Effect is another one of those science fiction stories in which characters, distraught with their present reality, can change that reality by revising their past decisions, even slightly.
Evan (Kutcher), as a young boy, endured a few childhood trauma along with his three childhood friends, Kallie, Tommy, and Lenny, such as his friend's pedophile father (Stolz). Evan has some kind of problem, however, that causes him to blackout during these traumatic, life changing events. These past events obviously effect the present as they mold the person the four children will become. And it isn't always pretty.
As a psychology major, Evan is inspired to study memory patterns, and consequently, discovers his neurological knack for forcing himself to remember things. When he does, he is able to transplant himself back to that time (through the help of his journals that he kept since he was 7) and, still knowing what he knows in the present, is able to alter the past, and also the present. So, his goal is to make all of his friends' and mother's lives at least as perfect as they can be by wiping out as much of the bad stuff as he possibly can. But not everything works well on the first try. In other words, it is an opportunity to be able to "redo" his past. Evan is able to give everyone a second (and third, and fourth) chance at life. Now granted, the story is a cool idea, but the idea may've been pushed too far. Why are the possibilities for a second chance endless? Why can't there be some point, or at least some possbility of Evan not always being able to go back, or not being able to revise things?
The problem with this movie at first glance is that the complexity of the story creates problems with details. For instance, in one of the times that Evan goes back, he is able to make some of the friend's life nearly perfect. Say, Evan is able to start off this perfection by going back to age 7, then we would not expect the bad events that took place at age 11 to involve him, as his line of perfection would've already been set in place. Yet, the journal entries never change. And that's a problem with this movie. Evan's life may change, but his journal entries never seem to, not even after his age of revision.
The second problem with this movie is that it is so excruciatingly stereotypical. When Evan improves the present for he and Kallie, she is the sorority girl and he the frat boy. They live in a nice place, he drives a brand new luxury car. When things go well for Tommy, he is a sweater vest wearing campus crusader for Christ type. Evan's roommate, Thumper, is the by-the-book version of "goth." There is no character that simply seems to exist as just normal, and not the stereotypical version of perfection or being utterly dismal. In fact, this movie may best be titled, "Equations for Being So Stereotypically White." But then again, mainstream pop culture exists on lumping people into one generalized group or another.
As a sigh of relief at least, thank goodness this did not turn out to be another piece of obnoxious teen movie garbage.