kitty
01-24-2004, 01:10 AM
Butterfly Effect: trippy but effective
Ashton Kutcher trying to break out of his teen pop superstardom by adopting a Shaggy-esque beard and looking mournfully into the camera is sort of like listening to Jessica Simpson protest that she's not as stupid as she seems, while simultaneously holding up matching tins of Chicken of the Sea tuna. Sure, Jessica may not be as moronic as we like to think, but there's no way she's gonna fully escape the sheer idiocy of that by-now infamous question "is it chicken or tuna?"
Similarly, in the recent psychological thriller 'Butterfly Effect', it can be difficult to take Kutcher seriously; one keeps getting flashbacks (similar to the ones haunting Kutcher's character) of the thick-skulled Kelso of 'That 70's Show' infamy, or the grating humour of Kutcher's short-lived, but popular, MTV reality show 'Punk'd'.
Penned by screenwriters/directors Eric Bress and J. Mackye Gruber, of Final Destination 2 fame, the script asks the seemingly simple question: if you could change the past, would you? What would you be willing to give up in order to 'make things right'?
Kutcher's character, Evan Treborn, is faced with just that dilemma. As a child, Evan is plagued with a plethora of psychoses just waiting to happen. He is the son of a man suffering from some form of accute schizophrenia (and is institutionalized throughout Evan's childhood), he suffers from frequent blackouts, and he is sexually abused by the one man he hoped would become a father figure to him -- the father of his friends Tommy (adult, William Lee Scott) and Kayleigh (adult, Amy Smart). Rounding out the group is the overweight and insecure Lenny (adult, Elden Henson), who is easily bullied by the other three, particularly the overbearing, and at times, downright frightening juvenile delinquent, Tommy.
Throughout this childhood from hell, Kayleigh is Evan's one beacon of light. Her innocence brings out an almost paternal caring in Evan, and soon they find themselves sharing a star-crossed puppy love that makes Tommy violently jealous. It is under these circumstances, and the consequences of
a prank that goes fatally wrong, that Evan moves away from his hometown and loses touch with his friends.
Much later, during college, Evan stumbles upon the ability to return to his childhood memories, and rediscover what happened during his blackouts, by concentrating on the writings in the journals he has kept religiously since the age of 7. The lure of finding out whether the flashbacks are true bring him back to his hometown, and Evan soon learns that his flashbacks are not mere dreams but he is actually able to return to the past for the duration of his blackouts.
The results of his homecoming are catastrophic, and eventually results in Kayleigh's tragic suicide. This sends Evan on a mind-blowing quest to fix the lives of him and his three friends, and create the 'happily ever after' ending of storybook lore.
The question that first comes to mind is, of course, can Ashton Kutcher carry a movie of this magnitude? The role offers little opportunity for Kutcher's usual brand of part-slapschtick, part self-effacing humour. To be honest, though Kutcher won't be winning any Golden Globes, he delivered his performance with a practiced attention-to-detail indicating that he's certainly *trying* to change his image. He acting carries potential, and this movie was an ambitious vehicle for him to start stretching his fledgeling wings.
Amy Smart's performance, on the other hand, while visually stunning (more a kudo for the makeup team than for Smart, herself) was a little bland. There was something unconvincing about a few of her performances that left a little to be desired. Elden Henson, as the adult Lenny, brilliantly portrayed the two wild extremes of his character, from catatonia to easy-going new-age hippie, such that he stole almost every scene he appeared in.
Also, 'Butterfly Effect' contained perhaps the best casting of child actors I have ever seen. I found myself marvelling over the talented cast of children, who also happen to look eerily similar to their adult counterparts. To me, this was the mark of a casting director who can pat themself on the back for a job very well done.
Overall, the movie is a fairly good psychological thriller, with many satisfying scares and enough uncertain plot twists to keep you guessing. It was an interesting exercise in how people can change through circumstance, and many of the portrayals of hero and villain alike are both intriguing and disturbing. While the movie is by no means revolutionary, it is entertaining enough to leave you spending the few minutes between the cinema and the car trying to tease out the enticing plot details left, like a bread crumb trail, to the movie's overall take-home message. Perhaps my only gripe is that the movie was a little too slow for the first half, before Evan discovers the ability to return to his past. Though necessary to ground the time-travelling of the 'second act' of the movie, the audience is forced to sit through a good 45 minutes of Evan's childhood, wondering if they had accidentally walked into a theatrical re-release of 'Kids'.
Also, the movie's conclusion is a little too feel-good, certainly not in keeping with the pattern set by the screenwriters in Final Destination 2, without the patented tongue-in-cheek macabre plot twists of films of this genre.
Unless you really can't stomach the idea of Kutcher for two hours on the big screen, this movie is worth the theatre dollars. If your tastes lie towards the creepy and unnerving (or if you just think Ashton looks good wrapped in nothing but a towel), you should find yourself watching the credits roll with a nice satisfied feeling.
Ashton Kutcher trying to break out of his teen pop superstardom by adopting a Shaggy-esque beard and looking mournfully into the camera is sort of like listening to Jessica Simpson protest that she's not as stupid as she seems, while simultaneously holding up matching tins of Chicken of the Sea tuna. Sure, Jessica may not be as moronic as we like to think, but there's no way she's gonna fully escape the sheer idiocy of that by-now infamous question "is it chicken or tuna?"
Similarly, in the recent psychological thriller 'Butterfly Effect', it can be difficult to take Kutcher seriously; one keeps getting flashbacks (similar to the ones haunting Kutcher's character) of the thick-skulled Kelso of 'That 70's Show' infamy, or the grating humour of Kutcher's short-lived, but popular, MTV reality show 'Punk'd'.
Penned by screenwriters/directors Eric Bress and J. Mackye Gruber, of Final Destination 2 fame, the script asks the seemingly simple question: if you could change the past, would you? What would you be willing to give up in order to 'make things right'?
Kutcher's character, Evan Treborn, is faced with just that dilemma. As a child, Evan is plagued with a plethora of psychoses just waiting to happen. He is the son of a man suffering from some form of accute schizophrenia (and is institutionalized throughout Evan's childhood), he suffers from frequent blackouts, and he is sexually abused by the one man he hoped would become a father figure to him -- the father of his friends Tommy (adult, William Lee Scott) and Kayleigh (adult, Amy Smart). Rounding out the group is the overweight and insecure Lenny (adult, Elden Henson), who is easily bullied by the other three, particularly the overbearing, and at times, downright frightening juvenile delinquent, Tommy.
Throughout this childhood from hell, Kayleigh is Evan's one beacon of light. Her innocence brings out an almost paternal caring in Evan, and soon they find themselves sharing a star-crossed puppy love that makes Tommy violently jealous. It is under these circumstances, and the consequences of
a prank that goes fatally wrong, that Evan moves away from his hometown and loses touch with his friends.
Much later, during college, Evan stumbles upon the ability to return to his childhood memories, and rediscover what happened during his blackouts, by concentrating on the writings in the journals he has kept religiously since the age of 7. The lure of finding out whether the flashbacks are true bring him back to his hometown, and Evan soon learns that his flashbacks are not mere dreams but he is actually able to return to the past for the duration of his blackouts.
The results of his homecoming are catastrophic, and eventually results in Kayleigh's tragic suicide. This sends Evan on a mind-blowing quest to fix the lives of him and his three friends, and create the 'happily ever after' ending of storybook lore.
The question that first comes to mind is, of course, can Ashton Kutcher carry a movie of this magnitude? The role offers little opportunity for Kutcher's usual brand of part-slapschtick, part self-effacing humour. To be honest, though Kutcher won't be winning any Golden Globes, he delivered his performance with a practiced attention-to-detail indicating that he's certainly *trying* to change his image. He acting carries potential, and this movie was an ambitious vehicle for him to start stretching his fledgeling wings.
Amy Smart's performance, on the other hand, while visually stunning (more a kudo for the makeup team than for Smart, herself) was a little bland. There was something unconvincing about a few of her performances that left a little to be desired. Elden Henson, as the adult Lenny, brilliantly portrayed the two wild extremes of his character, from catatonia to easy-going new-age hippie, such that he stole almost every scene he appeared in.
Also, 'Butterfly Effect' contained perhaps the best casting of child actors I have ever seen. I found myself marvelling over the talented cast of children, who also happen to look eerily similar to their adult counterparts. To me, this was the mark of a casting director who can pat themself on the back for a job very well done.
Overall, the movie is a fairly good psychological thriller, with many satisfying scares and enough uncertain plot twists to keep you guessing. It was an interesting exercise in how people can change through circumstance, and many of the portrayals of hero and villain alike are both intriguing and disturbing. While the movie is by no means revolutionary, it is entertaining enough to leave you spending the few minutes between the cinema and the car trying to tease out the enticing plot details left, like a bread crumb trail, to the movie's overall take-home message. Perhaps my only gripe is that the movie was a little too slow for the first half, before Evan discovers the ability to return to his past. Though necessary to ground the time-travelling of the 'second act' of the movie, the audience is forced to sit through a good 45 minutes of Evan's childhood, wondering if they had accidentally walked into a theatrical re-release of 'Kids'.
Also, the movie's conclusion is a little too feel-good, certainly not in keeping with the pattern set by the screenwriters in Final Destination 2, without the patented tongue-in-cheek macabre plot twists of films of this genre.
Unless you really can't stomach the idea of Kutcher for two hours on the big screen, this movie is worth the theatre dollars. If your tastes lie towards the creepy and unnerving (or if you just think Ashton looks good wrapped in nothing but a towel), you should find yourself watching the credits roll with a nice satisfied feeling.