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Back Shelf Beauties
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The Butterfly Effect Dude, where's my Ashton Kutcher? When you watch him on That 70's Show or on MTV's Punk'd, you get the impression that he might be kinda dumb. Then, he becomes Demi Moore's boy toy, which earns him the respect and admiration of every heterosexual man on the planet earth, but still makes him look like a dumb kid as he follows behind her at big public events. Imagine my shock of all shocks when I saw that Ashton has become a strong leading actor with depth and emotion in The Butterfly Effect. Go Ashton! This could be the beginning of something big. If he plays his cards right and makes the correct career moves, he might be the next Tom Cruise. Kutcher stars as Evan - a young man with lots of emotional and mental problems. When he was a young boy, he went through a series of traumatic events and suffered from black outs, so he can't remember everything that happened. Evan eventually got his life together and dedicated his college studies to learning about how the human brain and memories work together in hopes of understanding what he is going through. Along the way, he learns that he can go back in time, which has something to do with the blackouts, but he doesn't realize the ramifications. Can Evan change all of the bad things that happened and make a better life for himself and the woman he loves? What risks is he taking with his health? The Butterfly Effect is like a Twilight Zone episode with amazing special effects and prettier actors. It's a complicated thriller that starts off a little slow, but it gets better and better as you realize the meaning and importance of those early scenes. Much like the movie is a coming out party for Kutcher, it is a graduation day for writers and directors J. Mackye Gruber and Ed Bress, who previously brought us Final Destination 2. They start with a very good premise, move the story along in ways that will keep you enthralled, and improve the dialogue as they better establish each character and the plot. In the early part of the film, I felt like the movie was a series of very good scenes lumped together looking for a plot, but Gruber and Bress make it all payoff as the plot slowly, but powerfully, develops. Take special notice of what's happening to Evan each time he goes back, where he goes back to and how he has changed things. It all has importance if you pay attention. If you can stick it out, the payoff is well worth the wait, even though I think there is a cool Twilight Zone-type ending that would have been better. Kutcher is the best part of The Butterfly Effect. Like a true leading man, he has a very commanding screen presence that makes you focus on him in every scene. Although the film is science fiction, he brings it believability with his earnest performance free of irony, but with a wonderful feel for his character's many emotions in the very different scenes. Like the story gets better as the movie goes along, Kutcher gets better and better as the situation becomes more complex and Evan starts to realize the power that he holds. Once he gets it, Evan must consider if he should continue this course of action and what goal he hopes to reach. Is it his own personal happiness? Is it the happiness of his friends who have been scarred by the past? Is it the happiness of his mother? Kutcher is great in these important, climactic scenes and shows us how his character has matured through all of it. Evan, and Kutcher, have become men instead of smirking little kids. The Butterfly Effect is the first big surprise of 2004 and a movie you should check out this weekend. I would have went with a different ending, but it's still very good. 3 ½ Waffles (Out Of 4) Copyright 2004 - WaffleMovies.com
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