Unique in its own right

Rating: Null/10 (24 January 2004)

I saw this flick last night, and was more than impressed. The movie had many 'shock you' moments in it - moments that caused the entire audience to all gasp at once. I love movies that accomplish that. The concept of being able to arbitrarily go back in time and change what you think needs to be changed is not a new one, but in all other movies it's been in, typically paradoxical elements are easily noticed and somewhat bothersome. While there are logical flaws in the general plot line of The Butterfly Effect, the audience is brought on board in such a way that they seem to be more willing to go along with those flaws.
One exception was (VAGUE SPOILER WARNING!) when Evan is in jail, and attempts to show his cell mate his ability to create scars on his body. That was one scene that seemed out of place and trite for what it needed to accomplish, especially knowing that the incident he caused during his childhood would have affected his future a lot more than it did. Everything else, I was on board for.
Ashton Kutcher's ability to play a serious character, I believe, has been proved through this movie. Some say his ability to act has been called into question. I tend to disagree. I think his ability is fine. He's just chosen some poor roles up until this point, and now, he's been pigeonholed as a bumbling idiot. He plays a fine role in this... in fact, he seems to play several roles, changing just slightly for each reality. His emotions ring true.
Amy Smart has come a long way since 'Road Trip', but her somewhat forced emotions still show through. She did well enough at the tasks which she was assigned, and did go above and beyond the call of duty, completely changing her character from scene to scene. However, her emotional displays did seem somewhat inept.
The casting of the younger versions of all of the characters was excellent. I especially noticed this during the hypnotism scene with the younger version of Evan. His facial ticks and expressions very much reminded me of his older counterpart.
Overall, I enjoyed the uniqueness of this movie. It was innovative in its time-traveling plot line, and the end-product is definitely one worth watching. Here's hoping you get the same enjoyment out of it that I did.