Dude, where's my suspense?

Rating: 6/10 (15 February 2005)

In an ideal world, this movie would have been a clever little movie that explored its cast of characters through a series of experiments in cause and effect. Unfortunately, in reality The Butterfly Effect falls short. The movie shows plenty of signs throughout that it's simply trying too hard to be clever and suspenseful - some scenes feel forced, especially towards the end as it starts trying to tie everything up.
I could imagine that this film might have hoped to be a sort of sci-fi Memento, though it falls plenty short of that lofty mark. Memento did a far better job of developing its cast of characters (which, in turn, was portrayed by a stronger group of actors) and was much more tightly written. The Butterfly Effect would probably prefer that you brush over the details as it's filled with inconsistencies and even contradicts itself at times.
Still, the "gimmick" central to the movie is actually pretty interesting and, as I'm a sucker for these kinds of things, I appreciated what mileage they managed to get out of it. If you think the plot synopsis sounds interesting, you'll probably find it enjoyable. If not, you're probably wise to look elsewhere.