"The Simpsons" did something similar more than 10 times better in less than a tenth of the time.

Rating: Null/10 (23 June 2004)

"The Butterfly Effect" seems more intent on showing that Ashton Kutcher has more in his arsenal than Kelso from "That '70s Show," Demi Moore, and MTV ripoffs of "Candid Camera." In that respect, writers-directors J. Mackye Gruber and Eric Bress succeed; as far as telling a compelling story goes, New Line Cinema has very definitely been punk'd, man!
The concept's a fascinating one, and in the right hands this could have been an intriguing movie, but instead it just becomes an endless parade of grimness, with our hero's lifelong blackouts leading to full-out misery for himself and all around him, which gets worse for close to two hours when he finds he can harness his repressed memories to go back in time and try and sort things out. The movie sacrifices the potential of the subject in lieu of lining up every possible downer from kiddie porn to out-and-out murder... when our hero finds himself in prison, guess who gets hit on by a pair of Aryan psychos?
In the midst of this tiresome spiral into Who Cares Land, there's a truly strong turn from a cast member more commonly found in silly comedies and usually considered as just a pretty face. And as well as Amy Smart proving she can do more than the likes of "Road Trip" and "Rat Race," Ashton Kutcher's decent too. But their performances get lost in all the plot holes (through which he probably travels back in time, since there's no explanation offered in the movie) and in the endless misery... and ultimately there's really no point at all to it. Kutcher says it all at one point - "What the f*** is THIS?!?"