The Butterfly Effect (2004)

A young man blocks out harmful memories of significant events of his life. As he grows up, he finds a way to remember these lost memories and a supernatural way to alter his life.

Directors:

Eric Bress, J. Mackye Gruber

Writers:

J. Mackye Gruber, Eric Bress

Stars:

Ashton Kutcher, Melora Walters, Amy Smart

1 win & 4 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Ashton Kutcher	...	Evan
Melora Walters	...	Andrea
Amy Smart	...	Kayleigh
Elden Henson	...	Lenny
William Lee Scott	...	Tommy
John Patrick Amedori	...	Evan at 13
Irene Gorovaia	...	Kayleigh at 13
Kevin G. Schmidt	...	Lenny at 13
Jesse James	...	Tommy at 13
Logan Lerman	...	Evan at 7
Sarah Widdows	...	Kayleigh at 7
Jake Kaese	...	Lenny at 7
Cameron Bright	...	Tommy at 7
Eric Stoltz	...	Mr. Miller
Callum Keith Rennie	...	Jason

Storyline

Evan Treborn grows up in a small town with his single, working mother and his friends. He suffers from memory blackouts where he suddenly finds himself somewhere else, confused. Evan's friends and mother hardly believe him, thinking he makes it up just to get out of trouble. As Evan grows up he has fewer of these blackouts until he seems to have recovered. Since the age of seven he has written a diary of his blackout moments so he can remember what happens. One day at college he starts to read one of his old diaries, and suddenly a flashback hits him like a brick!

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Plot Keywords:

blackout | memory | college | flashback | mail bomb | 

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Taglines:

Das Ende ist erst der Anfang (The end is only the beginning.)

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Genres:

Sci-Fi | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for violence, sexual content, language and brief drug use

Details

Official Sites:

New Line Cinema Official Facebook

Country:

USA Canada

Language:

English

Release Date:

23 January 2004 (USA)

Also Known As:

El efecto mariposa

Filming Locations:

Aldergrove, British Columbia, Canada

Box Office

Budget:

$13,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

$143,748 (Japan) (13 May 2005)

Gross:

$143,748 (Japan) (13 May 2005)

Company Credits

Production Co:

BenderSpink, FilmEngine, Katalyst Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

113 min 120 min (director's cut)

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby Digital SDDS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Evan's diaries have the same cover layout as the diaries of John Doe in Se7en, also released by New Line Cinema. They are standard composition notebooks that are used by school children across the country every day.

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Goofs

In the credits at the end, there is a name next to a character for "Evan at 3". No where in either of the two cuts is an actor portraying Evan at three yrs. old.

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Quotes

[first lines]
[reading aloud as he writes a note]
Evan: If anyone finds this, it means my plan didn't work and I'm already dead. But if I can somehow go back to the beginning of all of this, I might be able to save her.

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Connections

Referenced in Getaway: China (2008)

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Soundtracks

"The Midnight Creep"
Written by Jon Spencer (as Spencer) / The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion (as Explosion)
Performed by The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion
Courtesy of Matador Records

User Reviews

Surprisingly a great movie

Ashton Kutcher plays Evan Treborn, a troubled man who suffered blackouts as a child. When he discovers a way to travel back into the body of his past self, his time trips start to cause negative results on his present. As he uses his powers to try to fix his past and present, the effect escalates, creating alternate realities, many of which are worse than the past that he is trying to change.

The Butterfly Effect is a terrific thriller that keeps you on the edge of your seat. The previews looked very intense and the whole film is pretty much like that. It held onto the audience right at the start and it didn't let go until the end. The plot is nothing new but the execution was very nice. It offers a bunch of interesting and unpredictable twists so it's hard to see where things are going. The whole film is like that, just one long engaging thrill ride.

The acting is okay, some people did better than others. Ashton Kutcher is surprisingly good as Evan and he does a good job for his first serious movie. Amy Smart is very pretty and talented and she plays Kayleigh perfectly. The only person I didn't really like was Melora Walters. She was pretty wooden and unconvincing. Besides for her, the acting was pretty good and convincing. No one really did a bad job.

This film was directed and written by both Eric Bress and J. Mackye Gruber. They did make their mistakes but the film is still pretty good. The critics never gave this movie a chance. As soon as they heard Ashton Kutcher was in it, they all prepared to give it thumbs down. The movie moves around a lot that its hard to keep up but it also keeps you paying attention. Plenty of movies have gone back in time before but this one does it so more effectively that its almost original in that sense. The beginning is done well, the middle it starts dragging but it starts picking up and the ending is done extremely well. This is one of the best films of 2004 and certainly an entertaining one. In the end, this underrated gem is worth checking out. Rating 8/10