A Masterpiece

Rating: 9/10 (9 July 2010)

This film is Masterpiece-plain and simple.
The pacing is perfect. The acting Superb. The writing Phenomenal. This film has great style and cinematography, as well as an exceptional plot. The only reason I give the film a 9 is for the scene involving the Dog which I skipped- Thank god for DVD!
This film is a supernatural thriller in one sense- but in another, it is about real people and real problems.
It starts out with Evan- a young boy suffering from blackouts. Many crucial parts of his life are lost due to these blackouts- so he begins to keep a journal, per request by his doctor. Traumatizing childhood events eventually lead to his mother and him moving away to escape the life that they are living in suburban hell. As an adult- he finds his first love, Kayleigh. She is a struggling waitress. A conversation about the past leads to her suicide. As his life crumbles, he relives his fathers mistakes and finds that he can go back in the past through the journals he wrote, and relive the moments in his life he missed. He soon finds that he can change the past. He hopes that by changing things in his childhood that led to Kayleigh's suicide- he can save her in the present. But every small change he makes, changes the lives of everyone around him. The quote at the beginning of the film explains it perfectly "Can something as small as the flutter of a butterfly's wing cause a typhoon halfway around the world??" This is a film with many hidden meanings that cause a lot to think about after the credits role.
This is a dark film and deals with many controversial issues that could be disturbing to some. I do not want to go too far into detail, but just warning that it has some very real, dark, controversial issues presented.
This film shows that every moment counts and that every single thing that happened, happened for a reason. This is not a simple piece of entertainment, but a very meaningful work of art that I recommend to anyone who I think has the mindset to appreciate a sophisticated work of art like The Butterfly Effect.
See the Directors Cut First as the ending is phenomenal. Then watch the ending of the Theatrical Version after. Both endings are great- but the Theatrical Ending does not have as much meaning and power packed in- but was added to give the film a mainstream appeal.