An interesting concept hastily put together – 6 (A little disappointing)

Rating: 6/10 (9 May 2005)

So I'm watching the BUTTERFLY EFFECT with eyes peeled to Ashton Cutcher's mom. Where have I seen her before? Ten minutes later, it hit's me like a time-warped flashback, and I'm sitting on my couch back in Massachusetts watching Magnolia again. Yeah Cutcher's worried to death mom, Melora Walters, was also that strung out coke-head girl in Magnolia! But how did she end up in a movie with Ashton Cutcher? Before my question is answered, the flashback ends and unfortunately I'm back in my Japanese apartment watching THE BUTTERFLY EFFECT. Wait, I want to finish Magnolia! I have to go back!
I selected this movie without knowing what it was about. That is undoubtedly the best way to watch any movie, whereupon surprises flow like the salmon of Capastrano. But because of struck-over-the-head obvious hints, I soon deciphered the concept behind this Luke-warm sci-fi Oldsmobile. "Your father thought he could ... could ..." Yeah, mom, I thought, just say it and get it over with. He thought he could change the past! Walters was definitely more convincing in Magnolia. What happened? Could I go back in time and tell her not to do this movie?
OK, I'm a big fan of sci-fi time travel movies, because they touch upon that most guttural of human emotions – regret. What would you give to go back and change the past? If you had that second chance, your life might turn out to be totally different, like the alphabet might have a new letter or worse, former president Richard Nixon might not have been elected. Think about that one.
The tradition of altering the course of history jumped onto film with It's a Wonderful Life, skipped from body to body in Quantum Leap, and actually had a scientific basis in several episodes of Star Trek: Generations. I raise a toast to those works of art.
Thus THE BUTTERFLY EFFECT automatically gets a better-than-average rating in my book at the get-go for having the guts to take on the rich concept of time travel. But even though the chick-flick in sci-fi clothing starts off with a lot of potential, several production and writing shortcomings drag THE BUTTERFLY EFFECT back down to mediocrity.
First of all, the story seems to have been written by a sixth-grader. Is Ashton Chritchner really traveling back in time, or is he just wandering around the corridors of his confused and twisted psyche? It's a mystery, which is okay, but if I were to portray this mystery on film, I'd try a smarter approach. Sure, Ashton Cutcher's fan-base might have yet to reach puberty, but every dog sniffs out a questionable screenplay. There are too many loopholes and contradictions. Are we to swallow the idea that Cutcher's brain is a time-machine, or worse yet that he doesn't want to change real world problems like South Africa or the former Bush Administration? My throat is not deep enough for hook line and sinker, I'm sorry.
The scenes where he goes back to his childhood body and bosses Eric Stoltz around is laughable. Maybe Eric Stoltz's feelings really are that easy to manipulate. Or maybe the scriptwriter ran out of clever ideas to fuel this groundless time travel movie and was desperate to get the script in on time. Instead of time-travel, the crew should have focused on the concept of a 26-year old trapped in a ten-year-old's body. You know, something akin to Travolta's Look Who's Talking. That's something worth exploring.
Another questionable aspect of the production behind THE BUTTERFLY EFFECT is slapdash and thinly transparent speed. Too few actors and too few props are spread over too many time leaps, which amounts to something like a high school skit more than anything else. Where the movie starts to get creepy with nicely orchestrated music, it stops halfway. I would say, up the creepiness behind the insidious molestation theme, tone down the obvious references to fraternity life, and come up with a scientific basis for the time travel. That would automatically bump the movie up a point or two, even though it might confuse some of Ashton Cutcher's most die-hard fans.
JY
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