Butterflies are free

Rating: 6/10 (6 July 2006)

It's clear to see why films like "The Butterfly Effect" are quickly embraced by young people because the more visual and complicated a movie gets, the more it resonates with a certain age group who will see what the rest of the audience don't.
Created by Eric Bress and Mackye Gruber, "The Butterfly Effect" is a movie that presents a young man, Evan, who has been warped for life, or so it seems, by the pedophile next door, who happened to be the father of his best friend, Kayleigh, also has been abused by her father. The third person whose life changes forever is Tom, who has witnessed his father in action taking kiddie porn movies of his sister and her best friend.
As the result of what these children experienced, their lives take a twist that no one could have predicted. Evan suffers from trance-like moments when he can put himself back to a horrible event in his young live. Following all those stories take a little endurance on the viewer's part as some of what we see is too far fetched to be true.
The young cast of "The Butterfly Effect" go through the motions with great relish, especially Ashton Kutcher, who as Evan has the better part. Lovely Amy Smart, who has done better work on other films, appears as the adult Kayleigh. William Lee Scott, Eric Stoltz, are seen among the large supporting cast.