UrbanWire

Cast: Ashton Kutcher, Amy Smart, Eric Stolz

Directors: Eric Bress, J. Mackye Gruber

Ironically, the casting of Ashton Kutcher in The Butterfly Effect is more ingenious than naïve. 1st time co-directors Eric Bress and J. Mackye Gruber (also co-writers of the teen-horror sequel, Final Destination 2) have made more of a calculated risk having in mind that Kutcher the Punk'd kid is finally showing some acting chops.

The Butterfly Effect is a sci-fi thriller about a young man Evan Treborn (Ashton Kutcher), who discovers that he has the power to not only change his future but also that of his friends', Kayleigh (Amy Smart) and Lenny (Elden Henson). Evan has a history of blackouts where he would be unconscious of his actions in the few minutes before he snaps out (think of a goldfish with a short-term memory). Coincidentally, mishaps always happen when he blacks out.

His doctor recommends he write a journal of every event that happened to possibly jog his memory. This is when the butterfly effect theory (aka the Chaos Theory) starts to take place. The concept is that a small change like the flapping of a butterfly's wings can cause a typhoon to happen on the other side of the world.

He soon discovers that by reading the pages of his journal, he is able to time-travel back to a particular event in his life. Never did he know that his desire (like the flapping of a butterfly's wings) to change what had happened has a 180-degree effect on the people involved in that event.

Like an addict, Evan keeps travelling back in time to save the ones he loves. Along the way he becomes a frat boy, a paralysed man, a prison mate and a mental patient. And his love interest Kayleigh becomes a sorority girl, a waitress and even a hooker.

The Butterfly Effect banks on the numerous special effects that take place when Evan decides to time-travel. It won't surprise me if Kutcher was also a computer effect too, albeit a good one. Despite countless criticisms on his acting abilities, this time it seems rather decent though I can't seem to get Michael Kelso of That 70's Show out of my head. Although Kutcher wasn't first choice to be Evan (Sean William Scott and Joshua Jackson were considered), seeing him in his first drama is worth it.

With the amount of hype on Kutcher, Smart's acting is overshadowed. Kayleigh Miller is her first breakthrough role with the exception of being every hormone-raging teenager's fantasy when she was the topless girl in the sex video in Road Trip. Charlize Theron recently won an Oscar for being a hooker in Monster and Smart does the same for this movie. The difference is Smart's physical appearance was much more dreadful with a scar stretching across her left cheek.

The Butterfly Effect was supposed to be released last February but only made it to the Sundance Film Festival in January. Could Smart have won an Oscar instead? A pretty long shot considering how critics put down movies with the mere mention of Kutcher's name.

Time-travelling movies are nothing new with the recent Ben Affleck thriller Paycheck, Guy Pearce's The Time Machine and Paul Walker's Timeline just to name a few. But Evan's method of transporting himself by reading his journal aloud is something new and pushes the boundaries of believability.

A subtle plea to Evan that things can never always go your way wraps up the movie in the credits with the song 'Stop Crying Your Heart Out' by Oasis, though it's pretty much lost on the audience. There are just times that subtlety doesn't pay.

Nevertheless, this back-and-forth head trip is confusing enough for me to grab my Panadol than popcorn, and stay away from writing journals.