The Butterfly Effect
R
Starting tomorrow at area theaters
Three reels out of four
Time-travel movies are metaphors for the fact that all of us would like to go back and correct the past. One of the best recent examples of the genre is a little gem called Frequency. In the film, a young man (Jim Caviezel) finds he can communicate with his dead father (Dennis Quaid) by speaking through his dad’s ham radio. The film became a genuine surprise hit because of the actors and the effective way it handled time travel.
The Butterfly Effect — named after the notion that the miniscule breeze from the wings of the tiniest butterfly can cause an earthquake halfway across the world — is a similar film. It deals with the issue of time travel in much the same way, as a paranormal phenomenon — not as a result of some brilliant experiment. And, much like Frequency, The Butterfly Effect is both profoundly enjoyable and surprisingly moving.
Ashton Kutcher plays Evan, a young man with a lot of issues. While he was growing up, his father was in a mental institution and Evan always had blackouts at the strangest times. When he goes to college, he discovers that reading his journals gives him a weird sensation and propels him back in time. In his younger body, Evan is able to make changes that affect the future. But every time it looks as if he’s corrected the past, something goes wrong in the present. Time and time again, he retreats into the past to correct his mistakes. Will he get it right or realize the futility of it all?
The Butterfly Effect touches on issues of regret and hurt, yet delivers the thrills. In fact, the thrills are so fast and furious that sometimes the movie threatens to go over the top. A lot of energy goes into wondering whether Kutcher will make it back in time. It’s a familiar theme of a protagonist going through hoops to get out unscathed on the other side. Yet this film adroitly shifts between a roller-coaster ride and a touching drama on what happens when we get a chance to make things right.
Perhaps the big news of The Butterfly Effect is Kutcher himself. The current boy toy of Demi Moore and former gonzo host of Punk’d has some major charisma in the lead role. As to whether he can really act, it’s hard to tell in a movie like this, but the camera loves him in a big way. He is reminiscent of several late-1960s stars in their prime, especially Jack Nicholson.
The Butterfly Effect is a movie in which thrills and thought coexist, like ketchup and mustard or pretzels and potato chips. It is a wild ride, but one with a question for the viewer to ponder: Can we change the past and, if so, is it a good thing?
Recommended rental
Thirteen
R
Available Tuesday
Overachieving seventh-grader Tracy (Evan Rachel Wood) is an excellent student and gets along swimmingly with her single mom, Melanie (Holly Hunter). Her only worry seems to be that she’s not cool enough to hang with Evie (Nikki Reed), the coolest girl in school. When the two do become friends, they share a multitude of adventures, most of them involving sex and drugs. Tracy’s relationship with her mom becomes seriously challenged as she falls deeper and deeper under Evie’s bad influence. Reed cowrote the indie movie when she was 13 with director Catherine Hardwicke. Thirteen was nominated for the Grand Jury Prize at last year’s Sundance Film Festival.
