What if this what if that what if

Rating: 6/10 (28 March 2008)

BUTTERFLY EFFECT is a thriller with alternative realities and past changing as subject. It is suspenseful, fast paced, thrilling and has a lot of imagination; however, it falls into a serious problem: the "what if" matter! And if I changed that moment, how would it be? And if that instant was changed, it would be different This film is a constant roller-coast of "what if(s)" that turns it unrealistic beyond unrealistic!
What I mean is that the film "forgets" about one important detail: our lives and this reality where we live (I won't even discuss the time and space matter, and possibility of time travelling, which is also brought up in this film) is a constant of "what if(s)"! So, even if he could change a moment, in a very distant past (all the changes he does are from a distant past, when he was a child or a teenager) nothing could assure that this distant future would only depend of that particular change! That's what I find more unrealistic in the movie! He changes a lot of years based just in some particular moments when he was a child or a teenager. And in those years, nothing happened that could have changed his life? There's a kind of a hole between when he's seven, when he's thirteen and when he's twenty! Nothing happened in his life during those years?!
However I can't say I didn't enjoy the movie. I think it has a good premise (in spite of being bad explored, by the reason I up-mentioned) and it definitely has a suspenseful and entertaining plot. And I did appreciate the ending I must say! In fact I think that was one of the fewest logical modifications he could make
The acting is also good, especially by the actors who have changed characters, and in particular, Amy Smart. I think she did a very good job!
Globally it's a nice film, I just think it has an unnecessary lot of "what if(s)"