One heck of a movie.

Rating: Null/10 (3 August 2004)

At our house, a great movie is one that you think and talk about for days afterwards, and that contributes something meaningful to your life - either by providing a wonderful, fun, refreshing entertainment experience, or by giving you meaningful things to think about in regard to living life. By that standard, "The Butterfly Effect" is not just a good movie, but a great one.
That said, most of the content is very, very, dark, violent, graphic, and disturbing. Seeds were planted into the lives of four children that, in this case at least, will lead inevitably to destruction, despair, and death.

Still, this is a movie well, well worth viewing. Yes, there are a few plot holes (although in reality they're generally different from the supposed plot holes some others have mentioned). The scene with the knife doesn't fit, somehow. The fact that the psychologist tells Evan he has previously asked for the journals doesn't fit, either. But such holes don't come across as terribly gaping (unlike the mind-numbingly idiotic scene in the otherwise authentic "Titanic" where Kate Winslet hands Leonardo diCaprio a Roosevelt dime), and in movies today such small holes are, alas, all too common.

There are several alternate endings, but for me there is only one real ending - the theatrical release version one. I've read all about the "Director's Cut" version of the film, and that ending to me doesn't really make sense, is basically unnecessary, and is totally predictable based on the inclusion of the earlier "life line" scene that's present only in that version. No, the theatrical ending is perfect, and the place that ending brings you to emotionally is THE perfect conclusion of this film.

All in all, an *excellent* film. While I won't be buying the video anytime soon, and it'll be YEARS before I ever let any of our kids watch it, you can bet that I'll be renting "The Butterfly Effect" again.