wasted potential

Rating: 4/10 (11 October 2004)

may be some spoilers...looking at the filmography for the two writer/directors of this film gave me a warm feeling inside because, for once, the world makes sense. both had previously worked on "final destination 2" which also had a decent enough idea, but was executed very poorly. the butterfly effect, literally from the first frames, is an unintelligent film. ashton kutcher isn't an actor of any real merit, though he did play a somewhat slow witted amputee fairly well. amy smart did the best acting job of the bunch - going from crack whore (literally) to sorority girl without missing a beat. i wouldn't call her a great actress, but she's got some chops. oddly enough the film did have a certain degree of potential (most films do). the idea is good enough to carry a film that is average in every other way, unfortunately the film was below average in most categories. the directors, though having almost no artistic ability or sense of ebb and flow, did manage to compose a few rather nice shots. one shot was over kutcher's shoulder, looking down into an open grave - they employed a long lens to accentuate the distance between the grave and kutcher. another example came after kutcher had one of his blackouts and the camera was tilted 90° to create a disorienting effect. these moments were brief and few, but they were there. it led me to believe that these guys are capable of making a better than bad film so long as someone else wrote the screenplay. as it stands, though, this film was not better than bad. also, i'm commenting on the director's cut of this film which has a few extra minutes of footage and a different ending. after it was over i watched the theatrical version's ending and that one was even worse. D.