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Wednesday, 07 July 2004 |
  "Be careful what you wish for. You just might get it." It's not exactly a new concept. Probably the most well known example is the 1902 short story by William Wyman Jacobs, "The Monkey's Paw" in which a shriveled paw is capable of granting three wishes. Of course, the lesson dates back at least as far as Aladdin's lamp. However, neither of those stories existed in the brutally sadistic minds of Eric Bress and J. Mackye Gruber, who co-wrote and co-directed The Butterfly Effect.
Bress and Gruber have created their own twist on this ages old morality tale, but theirs is one where abusive parents alternate with psychotic, murdering brothers. Where wishing better for those you love changes them from a suicidal emotional shell to a severely scarred prostitute. Beyond that, the true basis of the original theme is lost, as it dealt more with the consequences of greed and selfishness. Where the wisher is thinking only of himself and hurts the people around him. In this case, the wishes are for the benefit of others, but only makes their lives worse.
In the case of The Butterfly Effect, the story focuses on Evan Treborn (Ashton Kutcher) a young man with a name which is a simplistic play on words, who is plagued by violent blackouts. Short portions of his life seem to disappear, mainly at times of stress. It is probably understandable that he would experience these blackouts, since his life is consumed by pranks resulting in murder, dog burning, sexual abuse and many other forms of trauma.
He soon discovers these blackouts and the insanity they cause are a genetic trait passed down through the men in his family for at least three generations. He also discovers that by concentrating on these moments, he can actually travel back in time and change them. The result of these attempts are, of course, disastrous not only the first time he tries, but the tenth time and what seemed like the 40th. On each attempt, someone close to him, such as Kayleigh Miller (Amy Smart) her brother Tommy (William Lee Scott) their mutual friend Lenny (Elden Henson) or Evan's mother (Melora Walters) pays the price. The only character who seems immune is Evan's Goth college roommate Thumper (Ethan Suplee) who is essentially unchanged regardless of what Evan wishes for.
The opening half hour or so is fairly effective at disorienting the audience, but like the rest of the movie, repeats its cycles too many times. Evan is thrust back and forth through his life with no idea of how or why it is happening. Mainly it serves to expose the audience to the unsettling amount of psychotic behavior he has experienced. Add to this the fact that the worst of these experiences is focused on when he was seven years old, and the movie seems more like an exercise in sadism than a moral lesson.
Also regrettable is that the point of the movie has been driven home after about 75 minutes, with another 45 remaining for it to be repeated at least 8 additional times. It's almost mind numbing. On top of that is Evan's final solution, which not only defeats much of the rest of the movie but manages to reflect an even more pessimistic outlook than the nearly 2 hours which led up to it. The final minutes of The Butterfly Effect actually support what is probably the most self-destructive thought a person can possibly have.
It is difficult for me to believe The Butterfly Effect was not a result of the tremendous cult popularity of the 2001 film Donnie Darko. These two films are an effective example of how a similar theme can be profound and thought provoking when done properly and downright morbid when done badly. I would forgive the directors, since the movie is actually done fairly well, aside from the excessive time jumps, and contains fine performances across the line, including the unfairly maligned Kutcher, except they are also responsible for the script, which is the source of most of the failure.
Starring: Ashton Kutcher, Amy Smart, Melora Walters, William Lee Scott, Elden Henson, Erik Stoltz, Ethan Suplee.
Director: Eric Bress, J. Mackye Gruber
Studio: New Line Pictures
Rated: R
Running Time: 113 mins theatrical, 120 minutes Directors' cut
Release: 2004
Reviewer: John Rice |
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