sad to see a dead butterfly!

Rating: 2/10 (31 January 2004)

Please. See "Memento" or "21 Grams." Different films. Same puzzle technique. "Memento" is the major diagram. Start at the end and arrive at the beginning of the story. "Memento" - brilliant. "Butterfly Effect," a poor plagiarism at best, confused, & worse, the author(s), director(s) need immediate psychiatric intervention. In "Butterfly Effect" it's almost impossible to arrive at a distinction between illusion and reality, a difference I suppose between the young performers who think they're brilliant (and are just confused) and the pros who can truly grab tough abstractions and give them a film "reality."
Two martinis still haven't made "The Butterfly Effect" disappear from my memory. Yup, it was powerful. Worse, it couldn't and wouldn't help either you (or them) distinguish reality from illusion.
This fllm saddened me because it tried so hard to "best" the brilliant "Memento" and failed so miserably.