Chaos Theory (2008)

Director:

Marcos Siega

Writer (WGA):

Daniel Taplitz (written by)

Release Date:

16 October 2008 (Russia)

Genre:

Comedy | Drama | Romance

Tagline:

This man will bring order to the universe...or not.

Plot:

The story of an obsessively organized efficiency expert whose life unravels in unexpected ways when fate forces him to explore the serendipitous nature of love and forgiveness.

Plot Keywords:

List | Best Friend | Medical Test | Ferry | Shotgun

Cast

Ryan Reynolds	...	Frank Allen
Emily Mortimer	...	Susan
Stuart Townsend	...	Buddy Endrow
Sarah Chalke	...	Paula Crowe
Mike Erwin	...	Ed
Constance Zimmer	...	Peg the Teacher
Matreya Fedor	...	Jesse Allen (7 years)
Elisabeth Harnois	...	Jesse Allen
Chris William Martin	...	Damon
Jovanna Huguet	...	Maid of Honor
Christopher Jacot	...	Best Man
Alessandro Juliani	...	Ken
Lisa Calder	...	Sherri
Ty Olsson	...	Evil Ferryman
Jocelyne Loewen	...	Pregnant Nancy
Patricia Idlette	...	Nurse
Denalda Williams	...	Head Nurse
David Berner	...	Frank's Doctor
Christine Chatelain	...	Tracy
Linnea Sharples	...	Teacher #1
Simon Chin	...	Target of Frank's Attack
Sarah Edmondson	...	Tequilla Girl
Christina Twidale	...	Girl #1 at Bar
Cassandra Brianne Hearle	...	Girl #2 at Bar
Kevin Foley	...	Flower Delivery Boy
Donavon Stinson	...	Nevin
Daryl Shuttleworth	...	Officer Fields
Laurie Murdoch	...	Judge at Wedding

Directed by
Marcos Siega

Writing credits (WGA)
Daniel Taplitz		(written by)

Produced by
Frederic Golchan	....	producer
Barbara Kelly	....	co-producer
Kearie Peak	....	associate producer
Erica Westheimer	....	producer
Fred Westheimer	....	executive producer

Original Music by
Gilad Benamram

Cinematography by
Ramsey Nickell		(director of photography)

Film Editing by
Nicholas Erasmus

Casting by
Rick Montgomery
Chadwick Struck

Production Design by
Sandy Cochrane

Art Direction by
Margot Ready

Set Decoration by
Peter Lando

Costume Design by
Tish Monaghan

Makeup Department
Angelina P. Cameron	....	key hair stylist
Greg Cannom	....	special makeup designer
Stan Edmonds	....	key makeup artist
Rosemarie Harrison	....	hair stylist
Will Huff	....	special makeup effects artist
Jim Knell	....	production photographer: Captive Audience Productions
Harvey Lowry	....	director of operations: makeup effects department
Margaret Prentice	....	special makeup effects artist
Liah Saldaña	....	special effects makeup coordinator
Brian Sipe	....	special makeup supervisor
Wendy Snowdon	....	makeup artist
Keith VanderLaan	....	makeup effects supervisor: Captive Audience Productions
James Parr	....	operations manager (uncredited)

Production Management
Ravi D. Mehta	....	executive in charge of production
Julia Neville	....	production manager
Jamey Pryde	....	post-production supervisor

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Paul Barry	....	first assistant director
Paul Burger	....	second assistant director
Philip Nee Nee	....	third assistant director
Jody Ryan	....	third assistant director

Art Department
Sean Goojha	....	art department coordinator
Frank Haddad	....	head greensman
Sally Hudson	....	lead graphic designer
Colin Meacham	....	on-set dresser
Eric Partridge	....	assistant property master
Andrew Reid	....	assistant decorator
Nevin Swain	....	property master

Sound Department
Robert Althoff	....	sound re-recordist
Christopher S. Aud	....	supervising sound editor
Steve Bissinger	....	sound effects editor
Stephanie Brown	....	first assistant sound editor
Marc Fishman	....	sound re-recording mixer
David Jobe	....	foley mixer
James Kusan	....	sound mixer
Tony Lamberti	....	sound re-recording mixer
Michael Magill	....	dialogue editor
Jeff Malham	....	re-recording engineer
Mark L. Mangino	....	dialogue editor
Michael W. Mitchell	....	sound effects editor
Mark Noda	....	boom operator

Special Effects by
Alex Burdett	....	special effects supervisor
Kai Hirvonen	....	special effects assistant
Liah Saldaña	....	assistant special effects makeup coordinator
Adam Tayler	....	special effects best boy

Visual Effects by
Jennifer Law-Stump	....	digital effects artist: Pacific Title Digital

Stunts
Simon Burnett	....	stunt double: Ryan Reynolds
Clint Carleton	....	stunt double: Stuart Townsend
Jon Kralt	....	stunt coordinator
Clay Virtue	....	stunts

Camera and Electrical Department
Chris Banting	....	dolly operator: "a" camera
Gareth Farfan	....	rigger
Trevor Holbrook	....	first assistant camera: "a" camera
Dave Joshi	....	digital video assist operator
Neil Macdonald	....	electrician
Saubrie Mohamed	....	best boy electric
Zane Mohamed	....	lighting technician
Paul T. Murakami	....	daily grip
Craig Nix	....	crane operator: Technocrane
Michelle Ortt	....	second assistant camera: "a" camera
Leon Serginson	....	leadman grip
Bryce Shaw	....	rigging grip
Michael Yarish	....	still photographer
Christian Stevens	....	camera trainee (uncredited)

Casting Department
Chadwick Struck	....	casting associate

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Luisa Dalmagro	....	set costumer
Judith Feller	....	truck costumer
Alison Fraser	....	assistant costume designer
Michelle Hunter	....	costume supervisor

Editorial Department
Randall James Bol	....	post-production coordinator
Chris DeLaGuardia	....	color timer
Anna Josenhans	....	assistant editor
John Persichetti	....	digital colorist
Frank Robinson	....	colorist (uncredited)

Music Department
Laurent Apffel	....	assistant to composer
Bryan Carrigan	....	music scoring mixer
Robert Puff	....	music librarian
Sherry Whitfield	....	music editor

Transportation Department
Donald Chase	....	driver: cast
Bob Dennett	....	transportation coordinator

Other crew
Micheal Bahta	....	second assistant production coordinator
Monty Bannister	....	location manager
Bob Bedard	....	head chef
Jackie Bissley	....	unit publicist
Morgan Brady	....	production assistant
Sophie Brodovitch	....	clearance coordinator
Mandy Butler	....	production accountant
Melanie Callaghan	....	production assistant
Evan Chan	....	production assistant
Justine Cogan	....	assistant: Erica Westheimer
Jason Collier	....	assistant location manager
David Costello	....	production assistant
Jason Crosby	....	marine coordinator
Dave Edmondson	....	production assistant
Sean Finnan	....	trainee assistant location manager
Katie Forss	....	payroll accountant
Elise Gaylie	....	assistant: Ryan Reynolds
Kasandra Greene-Griebel	....	production coordinator
Braden Haggerty	....	dive safety
Mark Jacyszyn	....	production supervisor: Captive Audience Prod.
Samantha Kelley	....	production assistant
Tina H. Kim	....	production assistant
Karin Korchinski	....	first assistant production coordinator
Dan Kuzmenko	....	assistant location manager
Bliss McDonald	....	production coordinator
Claudia Morgado Escanilla	....	script supervisor
Christy Peters	....	assistant: Frederic Golchan
Morgan Schechter	....	assistant: Marcos Siega
Amber Zoe Sessions	....	assistant: Frederic Golchan
Alex Skrepnik	....	accounting clerk
Chris Smith	....	key production assistant
Warner Loughlin	....	acting coach (uncredited)

Production Companies

• Castle Rock Entertainment (presents)
• Lone Star Film Group (presents)
• Land Films
• WIP

Distributors

• Warner Bros (2008) (USA) (theatrical)
• Warner Bros. Entertainment (2008) (Canada) (theatrical)
• Blue Sky Media (2007) (Czech Republic) (all media)
• Nordisk Film Theatrical Distribution (2008) (Finland) (DVD)
• Paradise Group (2008) (Russia) (all media)
• Warner Home Video (2009) (Netherlands) (DVD)
• Warner Home Video (2008) (USA) (DVD)

Special Effects

• Keith Vanderlaan's Captive Audience Productions (makeup effects) (as Captive Audience Productions)
• Pacific Title and Art Studio (visual effects)

Other Companies

• Pivotal Post  Avid editing equipment provided by

Also Known As:

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for mature thematic material, sexual content and language

Runtime:

87 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

SDDS | Dolby Digital | DTS

Certification:

USA:PG-13 | Finland:K-7 | Australia:M | Netherlands:6 | Sweden:11 (DVD rating) | Portugal:M/12

Filming Locations:

Squamish, British Columbia, Canada

Company:

Castle Rock Entertainment

Trivia:

Ryan Reynolds plays Elizabeth Harnois's father despite being less than three years older than her (945 days to be specific). Emily Mortimer, who plays Elizabeth Harnois's mother, is less than eight years older than her in real life.

Goofs:

Continuity: At the very end, when Frank is talking to Ed right before the ceremony, Frank's hair is very gray. When they walk down the aisle, Frank's hair is very brown, not much hint of gray.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Jesse Allen:[to Maid of Honor, while wearing wedding dress] Give it to me straight: virginal bride or slut in white?

Movie Connections:

Featured in "Siskel & Ebert: Episode dated 12 April 2008" (2008)

Soundtrack:

Graceless

A Rarity

Chaos Theory is a well-acted comedy that delivers laughs a the right moments while weaving an endearing tale. It never achieves greatness, but it is enjoyable throughout.

Frank Allen (Ryan Reynolds) is a professional speaker who lectures on time management, and his life is perfectly ordered and scheduled, down to the minute. When his wife (Emily Mortimer) sets his clock forward 10 minutes as a joke, his day is thrown off. When he ends up late for an out-of-town lecture, things go awry. A couple of miscommunications leads his wife to question his fidelity, and he ends up making a discovery that causes him to have his own doubts about his family life. Deciding that his strictly ordered life has done him little good, he begins to make multiple choice index cards, choosing one at random and doing what is written on the card.

Reynolds is a very under-appreciated talent, and his work in this film is spot-on. Stuart Townsend gives a strong performance as Frank's best friend, and Matreya Fedor has some great moments as Frank's 7-year old daughter. Sarah Chalke shows up briefly in an interesting role, but she isn't given that much to work with.

The movie is story is well-structured and not entirely predictable, and the pacing and timing are great. The flaw of the film, though, is the third act, which was a little over-the-top for my taste.

But it is a smart and pleasant film overall, perfect for a rental.