Come Back When You Grow Up

Rating: 9/10 (14 October 2008)

This review recommends you watch the "directors' cut" before sampling the "theatrical version" of "The Butterfly Effect". Also, it will also enhance the film's effect if you refrain from reading the comments, good and bad, until after viewing; I was more intrigued by the storyline because I wasn't completely sure where the psychology and physics were going to wind up. The writer/director team of Eric Bress and J. Mackye Gruber kept me guessing as I did not read any comments, or even the DVD sleeve's synopsis. Bress and Gruber weave an extremely intricate, thought out, well paced, and imaginative drama.
The protagonist is unstuck young "Evan Treborn" (played by Ashton Kutcher, John Patrick Amedori, and Logan Lerman). The film traces the lives of Evan and three childhood friends: "Kayleigh" (Amy Smart, Irene Gorovaia, and Sarah Widdows), "Tommy" (William Lee Scott, Jesse James, and Cameron Bright), and "Lenny" (Elden Henson, Kevin Schmidt, and Jake Kaese). Kayleigh and Tommy's abusive father (Eric Stoltz), and Evan's loving mother (Melora Walters) are the main parental figures. To say the cast exceeds expectations would be an understatement. The overall effect left by the interrelating performances is remarkable, and rarely achieves at the level evident. This is also a technically beautiful film.
Be prepared. The character "George Miller" is a pedophile, who has obviously abused his children (off screen). "Mr. Miller" invites young Evan and his daughter to get undressed for his camera; it is a non-erotic, tastefully filmed scene. But, the violence, especially between the young children, is disturbing to the extreme; certainly, it shows the most devastating effects of child abuse. In the case of "The Butterfly Effect", artistic license trumps irreparable damages. "I'll come back for you" indeed.
******** The Butterfly Effect (2004) Eric Bress, J. Mackye Gruber ~ Ashton Kutcher, Amy Smart, William Lee Scott (Theatrical Edition)
********* The Butterfly Effect (2004) Eric Bress, J. Mackye Gruber ~ Ashton Kutcher, Amy Smart, William Lee Scott, Elden Henson (Directors' Cut)