The Butterfly Effect

Plot synopsis:
Growing up, Evan Treborn and his friends, Lenny and siblings Kayleigh and Tommy Miller, suffered many severe psychological traumas that frequently caused Evan to black out. These traumas include being coerced to take part in child pornography by Kayleigh and Tommy's father, George Miller (Eric Stoltz), being nearly strangled to death by his institutionalized father, Jason Treborn (Callum Keith Rennie), who is then killed in front of him by guards; accidentally killing a mother and her infant daughter while playing with dynamite with his friends; and seeing his dog being burned alive by Tommy.
Seven years later, while entertaining a girl in his dorm room, Evan discovers that when he reads from his adolescent journals, he can travel back in time and redo parts of his past. His time traveling episodes account for the frequent blackouts he experienced as a child, since those are the moments that his adult self occupied his conscious, such as the moment his father strangled him when he realizes that Evan shares his time-traveling affliction. However, there are consequences to his revised choices that dramatically alter his present life. For example, his personal time-line leads to alternative futures in which he finds himself, variously, as a college student in a fraternity, an inmate imprisoned for murdering Tommy, and a double amputee. Eventually, he realizes that, even though his intentions to fix the past are good, his actions have unforeseen consequences, in which either he or at least one of his friends does not benefit. Moreover, the assimilation of dozens of years' worth of new memories from the alternative timelines causes him brain damage and severe nosebleeds. He ultimately reaches the conclusion that he and his friends might not have good futures as long as he keeps altering the past, and he realizes that he is hurting them rather than helping.
Evan travels back one final time to the day he first met Kayleigh as a child. He intentionally upsets her so that she and Tommy will choose to live with their mother, in a different neighborhood, instead of with their father when they divorce. As a result, they aren't subjected to a destructive upbringing, don't grow up with Evan, and go on to have happy, successful lives. Evan awakens in a college dorm room, where Lenny is his roommate. As a test, he asks where Kayleigh is, to which Lenny responds "Who's Kayleigh?". Knowing that everything is all right this time, Evan burns his journals and videos to avoid altering the timeline ever again.
Eight years later in New York City, an adult Evan exits an office building and passes by Kayleigh on the street. Though a brief look of recognition passes over both of their faces, they both decide to keep walking.

Tags: dark, psychological, suspenseful, murder, mystery, stupid, dramatic, cult, alternate reality, violence, thought-provoking, flashback, insanity, psychedelic, romantic, revenge, sadist, home movie

Review:
In any case, this discussion just the other day led to a friend recommending The Butterfly Effect, a film that puts both a stylistic and sinister spin on the idea that even the mere flapping of a butterfly's wings can result in drastic changes in another place or time.
Being initially sceptical because of the generally negative reaction from critics, I was certainly not disappointed by film's end.Ashton Kutcher couldn't be more different that his concurrent role as the dimwitted Kelso from That '70s Show in his lead performance as Evan Treborn, a man who has suffered blackouts since his childhood, and realises that he can access and relive vital gaps in his memory through the help of other sources like journals or images.
What he doesn't realise is that the changes he thinks are made for the better actually result in a severely changed future that threatens his own life.Without trying to sound like a sadist, The Butterfly Effect excels in presenting a consistently dark, melancholy atmosphere.
Certainly, some thrillers benefit from slow-moving scenes to draw suspense (the superb Eyes Wide Shut, for example) but Butterfly manages to combine compounding urgency with engaging character development in constructing a fast-moving film that requires both thought and stamina to decipher, without being needlessly confusing.Oddly, the film possesses four different final scenes, and so the lasting message of the movie may differ depending on the copy viewed.
There was plenty of visual stimuli as well as mental stimuli as you waited to see the outcome of each alteration made by the main character, Evan Treborn (Ashton Kutcher).The movie kept me guessing and kept me at the edge of my seat, and the writers outdid themselves by making sure the movie didn't peter out with some lame ending.
On the flip-side - what if, at the end of the day, you really can't achieve a solid grip on these things, no matter how hard you try?A great deal of science fiction works of art have tried to approach these meaningful questions throughout the years, all presenting many philosophical ideas and notions as to how one man can change his own fate, for better or for worse.
But when a blast from his past comes back into his life only to leave it ever so tragically (Kayleigh Miller, portrayed by the lovely Amy Smart who we've since seen in films such as Just Friends and Crank), Evan learns that he can return to those important lost moments in his life and re-inhabit his younger body, thus changing the present and future.
However, with every shift in the past comes an alternate present that may seem better at first, but is in fact a far harsher reality than the original one Evan has left.What truly touched me about this film was the essence in which it captured the troublesome youth of my generation, that was born in the 1980's, grew up in the 1990's, and is ever since trying to adapt to the ever changing reality in which we all live in.
When you see the young actors and actress fall in love, fight, and grow up real fast, it all happens amidst references to films of the period (Se7en, etc.), outfits, 1980's technology and other devices that fill you up with an overwhelming feeling of nostalgia and sentiment, as if you were there yourself, living these events and going through all these horrible/wonderful events.Above all things, the makers of The Butterfly Effect do the unbelievable and turn Ashton Kutcher into a good actor  a feat I thought was unachievable at best.
The Butterfly Effect.I think Ashton Kutcher did a good job on this film, along with Andrea Treborn.
I saw this intriguing film last night & was quite amaze at how much I enjoyed it.The lead actor Ashton Kutcher, has made a name or himself on a Television show & a few films in comedic roles.In THE BUTTERFLY EFFECT, he gives a superb dramatic turn, I can foresee a big future for this young actor.
I have heard her name but cant place her in any film, Mark my word,We will see much more of her,The rest of the cast are actors I did not recognize excerpt fort Eric Stolz, who plays Amy's father, The all are excellent.The entire production is first rate all the way through.This is a very complicated story of imagination, some real events & pure fantasy.The last film of this type that impressed me this much was DONNIE DARKO.
With over 1000 reviews, chances are not many are going to read this, but I just have to say how much I love this film, which I just discovered about a month ago, and have now watched 7 times, once the theatrical version and six times, the directors version, which I greatly prefer, as it fits the overall script better and what was intended originally.
I am 70, and hardly expected this or any new movie to make it to my top 10, especially since I am not a fan of fantasy or time travel movies generally, but "The Butterfly Effect" has become my 4th favorite of the nearly 3000 films I have viewed in my life.
The movie has many disturbing scenes, but the pace is amazingly fast, the acting excellent for the most part, and the characters physical continuity from childhood through adolescence to adult was the best I have ever seen in a film with 3 separate periods.
There are some resolutions, things or parts I thought about many times, that are not totally perfect; but it happens with any film of any type, and we tend to forgive.I tried hard (although it wasn't difficult) to find the reasons that could make this movie unlikable for some viewers.
When the scenario finally goes wrong, it happens because of the way Kutcher's character acts in the altered present, not because of the altered time-line itself.The film's first forty-five minutes are somewhat more promising.
I hope that the next time they decide to do such a film, they'll leave cool metaphors like butterfly effects to a script that is truly willing to deal with such concepts instead of simply pretending to..
In the movie this is represented by a gimpy bloke making a series of rather large changes to his past, each time leaving him in the same university with the same people (who randomly switch between a grab bag of zero-dimensional stereotypes): "Oh,look, now she's a crack-whore." "Ha, now he's a cripple!"Thus, actors who struggle to convince in just one role are impossibly tasked with playing many.If brutalising general logical consistency and weren't enough, the film manages to include just about everything you'd expect to find in a crap short story by a 14 year-old Evanescence fan.
The idea of the movie is anything but new - we all read Ray Bradbury's "A Sound of Thunder," an unforgettable short story about a time-traveler who steps on a prehistoric butterfly and causes the horrible changes in the fate of the whole humanity.
This is the hallmark of a masterpiece of art and film making.It has taken me 14 years to work up the courage to watch it again and it had the same affect on me.This is an engaging, immersive, thought provoking and loving movie with incredible pacing, lovable characters (some not so lovable) and the ending will crush you.I don´t want to spoil this for you by telling you what happens but trust me, I usually watch sci fi or horror movies and I enjoyed this...basically a love story with some fantasy / sci fi under tones.I will probably watch this again in another 14 years and I fully expect it to tear my heart open again..
There is a "Lost Highway" feel to it and the themes are closely related but...The Butterfly effect is in fact more complex.It is a really disturbing movie, not so much for what it shows, but for what it keeps you guessing - like all true thriller masterpieces - , about events that take or might take place, and above all, about human sanity and the subtle twist there is between the average Joe's walk of life and outright perversion.
It was very astonishing watching Ashton Kutcher's great performance, since i thought he was a 'trash entertainment' actor, suddenly I realize I was wrong.It's a kind of a mid-budget movie with a lot of contents.A 'must see' movie for those who want to experience the effects of the chaos theory (or the butterfly effect)..
Butterfly Effect from the past, change one thing and your life would be totally different, positive or negative.The movie keeps me wondering what my life would be if something really bad didn't happen, or something fantastic missed out from my life.
Sometimes we just wanted everything to be "good" in our lives, we forgot how the goods would be emerged from the bads, perhaps it is exactly what makes life so beautiful.The movie is cleverly directed, though lots of jumping through times, the story is still clearly and brilliantly told.
this movie has a good premise.going back in time to change your present or future and the ramifications this could have.it's not an original premise,but it's 1 that hasn't been done to death yet.at least i don't think so.the movie has some good dramatic moments and some suspense ,but i didn't really find it all that compelling.it is quite disturbing in some scenes.i think this is Ashton Kutcher"s first big starring dramatic role,and i didn't quite buy him in the role.he has improved since then,though,most notably in "The Guardian" also starring Kevin Costner.in the "The Butterfly Effect" he seems a bit over his head.Amy Smart is also in this movie,and is good as always.my vote for "The Butterfly Effect":6/10.
I was never really sure what exactly, but what I was sure of in the end is that this definitely is none of the more complex dimensions above, instead it's just more like a really long practice in human misery, and cruelty than anything else.As I stated in the aforementioned paragraph above, this tries to be two movies, firstly like "Donnie Darko" a film about a troubled boy attempting to seek a purpose in a world he's not sure he's supposed to be in and seeks to stop tragedy to strings of events even including the usual Christ references, and then there's the concept on which the events in the future, with the help of a special ability, can change the past and tragic events, but somehow, the slightest change only makes things worse."Frequency" was a very good study of the Chaos theory and while creating a very engrossing thriller also managed to demonstrate the complexities and sheer fascinating results by it, while "The Butterfly Effect" uses it more as a mere plot device rather than a concept to revolve around.
The butterfly effect or The Chaos Theory discovered by Edward Lorenz is the theory that the slightest alteration in a current environment can alter the people, the situation, the time period, and environment with humongous and many times disastrous repercussions, and regardless of how much the environment has been repaired, the results can continue to remain disastrous regardless of the length of repairs, thus was examined by Lorenz after he mistakenly altered a series of numbers during an experiment and no matter what he did couldn't go back to the original series of numbers.Now, if "The Butterfly Effect" revolved around the concept of the actual theory for the purposes of the story, examining it further, dealing with the mass complexities, and at least practicing in originality, this may have been such a good movie, but instead it never deals with the actual theory, and instead just proceeds in dealing out themes and contexts that reminded me a lot of snuff film, and most of which I felt were just shown for shock value on the writers part to keep the audience cringing, most of the time it left me cringing but not for the reasons you'd think.
It's a scene that I'm sure was intended for people to gasp in shock and cover their eyes, but from where I sat, it was just so darn ridiculous."The Butterfly Effect" is not an intelligent film thought it deals with fascinating themes, it's still just a really one-dimensional quasi-thriller with nothing going for it except a script that copies "Donnie Darko" page for page, but there was a difference, "Donnie Darko" was a very good, thought provoking thriller that never went to extremes for the purpose of shocking the audience, while this deals with a grab bag of "taboo" plot devices that wants to be daring, but is just manipulative.Dabbling in suggestive but very uncomfortable themes of incest, pedophilia, child abuse, animal cruelty and extreme violence that, again, borders on snuff for the sheer purposes of making the audience gasp, this will be a very uncomfortable experience as it was for me.
The story is ultimately very skewed in its approach taking a more routine approach that we've seen before in "The Twilight Zone" and the short lived and hardly remembered "That was Then" but they were done a lot better though they never acknowledge the concept."The Butterfly Effect" has the ability to observe what their story is working with but is just filled with constant miserable sequences including a lot of violent content, a lot of sexual references, and delves into the incredibly campy by the climax, with one ridiculous result from the main character's attempt to alter life, and then, as if the writers have given up, the concept is thrown out the window and the whole plot is stretched and changed becoming very insulting towards the audiences intelligence with an attempted surprise ending, but by then we realize we've just wasted a lot of our own time we can never get back..
And if you're trying to simply send the message that messing around with time can change the future in ways you don't want, the body of the movie did that in spades, making the failed ending unnecessary.
Apparently the changes only effect major events, as Evan can still go back to his blackouts after things have already been changed.The film is an interesting science-fiction trip, but the story just fails to make sense sometimes.
STAR RATING:*****Unmissable****Very Good***Okay**You Could Go Out For A Meal Instead*Avoid At All CostsEvan Treborn (Ashton Kutcher) is a young man who suffered a troubled childhood.He was sexually abused,nearly killed by his psychotic father and was constantly menaced by a psychotic childhood chum.However,he's grown up into a relatively normal and focused fraternity brother and appears to have accepted all the hands that fate has dealt him.Until,that is,he discovers a way of altering his past to make his present better.However,it is from here that he discovers that maybe it is better to just let memories be memories.This is the latest in a long line of movies to deal with the concept of reverse plotting,perfected to style with 2000's Memento and dallied with up to this point.There are,admittently,a number of interesting ideas swimming around here,but even if you pay close attention to it,the plot feels totally disjointed and hard to make out,not to mention follow.It's senseless,is what I'm trying to say.As a result,it all winds up as one big emotionally uninvolving affair.And that's a big complaint to bear in mind for two hours.On the performances front,Kutcher is pretty much impossible to take seriously in the lead role.He is a comedic actor and his transition to serious acting puts him in the forefront of bad acting in a year of bad leading male performances.In the supporting role,Amy Smart is easily the best thing in it,but,well,there you go...The Butterfly Effect ultimately emerges as a wasted opportunity on all fronts.It coulda been worse,that's for sure.But it could also have been one hell of a lot better.**.
The idea was good but the movie was so disappointing.Ashton Kutcher plays Evan, a young man that has had blackouts all throughout his childhood.
I had never previously watched any of his movies, and you would hope that "Dude, Where's my Car?" was at least as good as "Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure", but I have my doubts.In this, however, Ashton Kutcher displayed for us his ability to both act in a serious role, and act in a serious role with excellence.More importantly, this was not at all the bloody teen horror film that I expected, but an intricately sewn together thriller that was based (although loosely) on the theory after which it was named- The Butterfly Effect.
It is, however, a bad movie plain and simple from beginning to end; piling on so much ridiculousness and poor writing and stupid clichés one after the other that it makes you wish that you, like the movie's star, could go back a few hours and tell yourself not to watch this dribble.The whole movie revolves around Even Trebon, played by Kutchor, who finds out he can relive memories and even change things in the past by reading a journal of his he kept as a child.
The child actors in this film generally look like stars in the making, putting the likes of Ashton Kutcher to shame.Overall this is a good story that really made me think, but I was left with a empty feeling.
Much of the film works simply because protagonist Evan finds himself stuck between a rock and a hard place and despite the criticisms of casting Ashton Kutcher by some people you really can believe that a good looking pretty boy would find them self popular in prison for the wrong reasons The screenplay by Gruber and Bress does raise an interesting point that destiny will always win out in changing the past .
I chose to watch this movie, because I missed it in theaters, like Ashton Kutcher in comedic films, and wanted to see his acting range in this.