Ebert and Roeper say, again, "Two Thumbs Up!"

Rating: 8/10 (1 May 2005)

Buttefly Effect explores the much-abused theme of time-travel in a novel, disturbing way. Ashton Kutcher, playing the character of Evan Treborn, discovers that he is able to find his repressed memories when he reads through his daily journals. Suffering from frequent black-outs in his childhood, much of his past has been a mystery to him. With an intense desire to find out what has happened to him, he seeks out his childhood friends. Seeing the horrible way their beautiful, happy lives have turned out, he now wants to go back in time, travel his memories and somehow, make it all better. And what results is a twisted thriller that will have you gnawing at your what-have-you's, wishing you would have seen "The Happy Little Elf" instead (refer "Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events")!.
The movie takes us through so many different emotions, so many different moods - terror, disgust, anger, fear, and then some more terror. The movie is unabashedly bold, with references to child abuse, suicide, prostitution, and prison sex (ah, this one delights every single time). The situations in this film suddenly turn from something perfectly normal to perfectly bizarre - naked children being filmed in a basement, asthma attacks in the jungle and many more scenes that pop out of nowhere. Of course, the film-makers are kind enough to the less imaginative among us, as every unexplained bit is come back to, in later parts of the film, with striking brilliance. The flow of the movie is well-controlled, so there's no overwhelming the viewer. This is really commendable for a movie with so many things to offer. The special effects too, are tastefully done. There hasn't been any overly slick show of visual fireworks that is usually seen in science fiction films.
Performances by all characters are more than agreeable, but Ashton Kutcher, truly, is the Atlas of this film. He displays a side of him that I believe has not been explored before. He smoothly swings from boyishly cocky to picture-perfect romantic to raving maniac with ease. There is no respite for him, however, as he tries to do the impossible in a wild ride that his life becomes. He is faced with so many choices, so many twisted ways in which his life screws him over. Every time he tries to make things better for the people he loves, he makes the whole situation so much worse than before.
As I said before, this concept is not wildly original. Fans of Star Trek Next Generation might remember an episode, where Picard travels unknown worlds, lives years there and develops memories. What is more commendable for the film-makers is how this beaten concept is dealt with. Butterfly Effect does a damn fine job of entertaining us with fare that is completely original, in a framework, not very so.