Home Rules Players CWL Stats Message Board Columns Record Book Contact Us Links FAQ Random Junk

THE BUTTERFLY EFFECT (2004 DIRECTOR'S CUT) Director- Eric Bress, J. Mackye Gruber Cast- Ashton Kutcher (Evan), Amy Smart (Kayleigh Miller), Melora Walters (Andrea), Elden Henson (Lenny), William Lee Scott (Tommy) Rated- R Runtime- 2 hours Reviewed By- Josh Cartwright The Lowdown Evan Treborn has the ability to revisit memories of his childhood and change the future by changing those events. After a tragic event, Evan begins altering the future by visiting the past. With each new change, the future is far worse than before. It's something like that, just watch the movie! My Take What did the five fingers say to the face? SLAP!!! That's exactly how I felt after watching "The Butterfly Effect", like I just been belted in the face a few times. I came away from this flick completely blown away and I mean that in a good way. This film surpassed all my expectations and served up one of the better films I've seen this year (I'm not kidding). Who knew Ashton could come through with an awesome performance like this and who knew a film starring him could keep me engaged the entire time? I'm not a fan of Kutcher but the man gave a credible performance and earned my respect. Props brotha! "The Butterfly Effect" is one of those rare films that makes the audience dig down deep and ponder all those questions we ask ourselves so often. You know, those "what if" questions. "What if I did this" or "what if I had done that", would things be the same? Would life be any better or any worse? "The Butterfly Effect" causes us to really think about these things and it caused me to realize that things could always be worse. If it were possible to act on those questions and actually change things, would I really want to? Not a chance after seeing what this character had to endure because of his ability to alter the past. With one action, there's always a future reaction and this film hits that note hard. "The Butterfly Effect" plays as several different types of films and really doesn't stand out as any one particular genre. It's sci-fi, thriller, love story and drama all rolled into one sad little burrito. The story is solid and very creative even if some parts are hard to comprehend. This is one flick that you'll need to see more than once to fully understand and appreciate. Sure, there may be holes in the plot, or atleast I thought there were, but the film is so interesting that those things are easy to overlook. I was totally engulfed by this film. I couldn't wait to see where all this was going. And in the end, I was saddened but shocked at the same time. The film takes a dramatic turn in the end and I bought most of it. I havn't seen the theatrical release but the Director's Cut hits hard. Overall, "The Butterfly Effect" is a dark and sad film that manages to hit the viewer upside the head. I didn't see it coming but I was pleasantly surprised that this film made me think. I expected a thin film with thin characters but I was given so much more. I had to use my noggin' a little and the time I invested in this puupy was well spent. Why was this flick bashed by so many critics? I'll never understand some of these guys. "The Butterfly Effect" gets a surprising three and a half little stars.