The Butterfly Effect (2004)

Moviegoers who loved Back to the Future or Frequency salivated over the promise of The Butterfly Effect. Unfortunately for them, the film is more a repeating game of "do over" than a thought-provoking look at space-time conundrums. Taking inspiration from the notion that even a butterfly's flapping wings can send a ripple of causation through the world, the film tries to flesh out a murky premise about a boy (Ashton Kutcher) who can alter his past by mentally rearranging the writings in his diary. The words flutter, the physical world reverberates like a massive earthquake, and suddenly history has been rewritten. If what the film did with its core existential ideas was interesting, Kutcher's gift would not require in-depth explanation, nor would the rules that govern it be very important. But Butterfly is no Donnie Darko, despite stealing some of that film's tone and plot elements. Darko is far more successful at de-emphasizing plot clarity in favor of style and a penetrating emotional truth. Crucially undercutting this film's power is the fact that it presents Kutcher's alternate pasts in a sequence that builds toward the most comic version --- intentionally or otherwise --- rather than the most tragic. The writing/directing team behind Final Destination 2 brings a similar slick palette of ominous blue hues to this film. But it's Kutcher's lack of gravitas, the reason he's cast in comedies more often than thrillers, that becomes an insurmountable problem at exactly the wrong time. As a result, The Butterfly Effect has no effect. ~ Derek Armstrong, All Movie Guide