Trying to play God

Rating: 8/10 (19 April 2004)

Imagine if you could re-visit moments from your past and alter events to reshape your future. Could you create a perfect existence for yourself?
That's the dilemma facing Evan, Ashton ("Kelso from that 70's show") Kutcher, a college student haunted by a past history of blackouts. After a prank goes horribly wrong, the lives of Evan, Kalley (Amy Smart), her brother Tommy and Lenny are irrevocably damaged, and after a confrontation with Evan 7 years on, Kalley commits suicide over another dark secret from the past. However, Evan has a gift. Using the journals he's kept ever since his first blackouts, he can revisit those moments and alter the course of history, therefore creating a new present. Easier said than done however, as each moment revisited harms either his friends or himself, leading him to wonder if he can ever put things right...
"Donnie Darko" meets "Groundhog Day" is the pitch for this sci-fi drama, a mazy tale that will have your head doing loop the loops but eventually bring you back down to earth with a clever solution. Kutcher, as Evan, is perfectly adequate, breaking away from his pigeonhole as a funnyman. Amy Smart also impresses as Kalley, playing several variations of herself with style and charisma, while Eric Stoltz, as her dad, is chilling.

The special effects are good, the script is clever and the consequences of action are well thought out. It will leave you guessing until the end, is satisfactorily tied up and presents a million and one questions about life itself. All in all, a good movie.
8 out of 10