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Upcoming Release Calendar
38
12 Rounds Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed movies.
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Butterfly Effect, The
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MPAA RATING: R for violence, sexual content, language and brief drug use
Starring Ashton Kutcher, Amy Smart, Kevin Schmidt, Melora Walters, Elden Henson, Eric Stoltz, John Patrick Amedori, and William Lee Scott
Evan Treborn (Kutcher) has lost track of time. From an early age, crucial moments of his life have disappeared into a black hole of forgetting, his boyhood marred by a series of terrifying events he can't remember. Determined to do something now that he was incapable of doing then, Evan purposely travels back in time, his present-day mind occupying his childhood body, in an attempt to re-write history and spare his friends and loved ones these traumatic experiences. By altering the events of the past, Evan hopes to transform the present. (New Line Cinema)
| GENRE(S): | Drama | Sci-fi | Suspense/Thriller |
| WRITTEN BY: |
J. Mackye Gruber
Eric Bress |
| DIRECTED BY: |
Eric Bress
J. Mackye Gruber |
| RELEASE DATE: |
DVD: July 6, 2004 Video: July 6, 2004 Theatrical: January 23, 2004 |
| RUNNING TIME: | 113 minutes, Color |
| ORIGIN: | USA |
All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...
The average user rating for this movie is 7.4 (out of 10) based on 182 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.
G R gave it a10:
I have no idea why this film has received negative reviews, one of my fav films. Critics know nothing.
Andrew W gave it an8:
It was like alot of low buget hollywood movies, not alot to play around with, hence only 4 people being changed by his "blocked memories" but it was VERY well done in my opinion, definitely a must watch, and for me a must keep!! one of ashtons best acting jobs, very very unique plot, all in all VERY entertaining!! going to read up more on the chaos theory now! :D enjoy
Jack B gave it a7:
I saw this on tv the other night and really enjoyed it. Very nice idea, something a bit different. Kutcher excellent and showed new depth i never knew he had, he should stick to proper acting in roles which stretch him because he has a lot of talent. Good film, well worth a watch if its on the tele and you have a free evening.
jess scott gave it an8:
I enjoyed this film thoroughly the critics may of voted low because they're easily confused but i found it had depth, good acting and generally a good film don't be put of by the 30 if u like thrillers this is for you.
Romina S. gave it an8:
Personally, I think The Butterfly Effect was a good movie. I think it’s definitely worth watching and I liked that the ending was not the same as any other movie. The director was effective in portraying the different ethical dilemmas that the characters are faced with throughout the movie. Evan, the protagonist, experiences a number of blackouts as a young boy and after seeing psychiatrists, is told to keep journals of all of the events happening in his life. When he is older, he finds the journals and begins reading them only to find out that he can go back to the events described in the journal entry that he reads. The movie depicts various instances where the protagonist must come to decisions that affect not only his life, but also the lives of everyone around him. Despite his ability to go back and change the lives of himself and others, he is the only one aware of his actions and it’s not ethically justified because he’s tampering with others lives at his own will. Even though he goes back in time for different outcomes, he tries to achieve the best possible outcome for all of them. When he sees that his friends have problems or aren’t happy in certain paths, then he changes their lives again hoping for the best. At the end, he goes a long way back before any of this happened and he makes the decision that he believes is the best one for all of them.
Paul W. gave it a0:
Horrible movie, I never got past the first 40 minutes due to how horrible it was.
Ghostbuddy gave it an8:
The majority of modern day critics, are unfortunetely traped in a closed minded state while watching movies. Just look at the reviews for this movie, found on this site. And the biggest complaint you see is the plot is silly. That the plot is nonsense. The truth is, the plot isn't grounded in what they accept as reality. And that prevents them from seeing the commentary behind it. The basic concept is. We have a group of friends that grow up, with a pretty f-ked up childhood. Evan, the main character begins to suffer from blackouts. He is taken to a child psychologist, who assures Evans mother its nothing to worry about. And that children usually do this to forget about stressful and traumatic experiences. He reccomends that Evan begin to reccord a journal to help him remember. When Evan grows up, and is in college. He realizes he can take control of his past self by reading his journal. Basically his consciousness can take a trip back in time. Allowing him to change his past. This turns out to be a silly and unrealistic but suprizingly effective plot device. It allows the story telling to reveals things about the characters twisted past, in very interesting ways. It allows the movie to talk about consequences and humanity in very intriguing ways. The movie is overall well executed. Effective camera angles. Great use of sound and image filters during the film. There is some less then satisfactory acting. But I never found it to be laughably or unacceptably bad. I think the degree of which this movie was panned highlights a problem with critics. One reviewer basically critized the film for not having a typical hollywood ending. Another reviewer critized it for being "complicated". This movie has a lot of good ideas, and if you approach it open mindedly, you will find an intriguing commentary wraped in twisted imagery, backed by great film making and editing. Don't get me wrong, this movie is not perfect, nor close to it. But I think it would be a shame if the genius in this movie is forgotten. Because the movies plot refuses to be grounded by preconcieved notions, and because of a few minor fumbles by a few actors. Seriously, don't take critics of any kind seriously on anything any more. Trust the adverage user score more.
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