The Kutcher Effect!

Rating: 8/10 (1 May 2015)

The Butterfly Effect (2004): Dir: Eric Bress, J. Mackye Gruber / Cast: Ashton Kutcher, Amy Smart, Elden Henson, Melora Walters, Eric Stoltz: Thriller about regret and fate and the idea that circumstances would not necessarily be better if we could change the past. Ashton Kutcher suffers memory blackouts and must keep a journal. A traumatic prank involving dynamite and a mailbox has a fatal effect on him and three friends. He spends time in an institution then the film juts ahead to his college days where the journals resurface and a desire for change leads to heavier consequences. Interesting setup becomes repetitious leading to a conclusion that doesn't work. Directors Eric Bress and J. Mackye Gruber are backed by fine production. Kutcher tries to correct mistakes only to discover worse facts. Amy Smart plays a childhood friend sexually abused by her father. Elden Henson plays another friend just released from an institution. Regardless which method Kutcher takes, it concludes with bad payoff leaving him only to let go of the one thing he loved. Melora Walters plays Kutcher's mother but perhaps more of her would have been better. Eric Stoltz has an interesting brief role as someone who is involved in child pornography and is part of the trauma. The special effects are superb but ultimately this is a depressing film that stresses that we cannot change the past. Score: 8 / 10