Puk'd

Rating: Null/10 (25 January 2004)

The tag line for "The Butterfly Effect" is "Change one thing. Change everything." The title of the film comes from the principle in chaos theory that even the flap of a butterfly's wings in one part of the world can, by a concatenation of causes and effects, trigger a typhoon elsewhere on the planet. The premise of "The Butterfly Effect" is thus that change is possible.
However, what Evan (Ashton Kutcher) keeps trying to change is the past. This is patently impossible, yet -- defying all logic-- he "achieves" it several times in the course of the film. Each time, he only succeeds in making a bad situation worse, until he finally "makes it perfect".
The problem is that the final adjustment he makes does not really solve anything. The one piece of the puzzle that causes the entire problem remains unchanged, and that is the character played by Eric Stolz. If he is not eliminated from the scene, his evil influence continues to poison the lives of those around him. "The Butterfly Effect" thus fails miserably in terms of plotting and script, no matter how well the characters may be played.
This is indeed a pity. I went into the film with high expectations that it might provide a breakthrough role for Ashton Kutcher, one that might free him from the stereotype of being someone's toyboy. Needless to say, I was sorely disappointed. And so, I bet, was Ashton.