The Butterfly Effect (2004)

Evan Treborn suffers blackouts during 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 by reading his journal.

Directors:

Eric Bress, J. Mackye Gruber

Writers:

J. Mackye Gruber, Eric Bress

Stars:

Ashton Kutcher, Amy Smart, Melora Walters

1 win & 8 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
Irina Gorovaia	...	Kayleigh at 13 (as Irene Gorovaia)
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:

butterfly effect | love | time travel | child pornography | memory | 

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Taglines:

Verändere die Zukunft, durch die Vergangenheit (Change the future, through the past.)

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Genres:

Drama | Sci-Fi | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

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

Did You Know?

Trivia

The picture over Evan's bed in his dorm room is "Sleep" by Salvador Dalí.

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Goofs

When Evan is sitting with prostitute Kayleigh in the restaurant, Kayleigh looks through his wallet then sets it on the table. In the next shot, the wallet has moved across the table.

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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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Crazy Credits

The title, "The Butterfly Effect," is superimposed over a depiction of a butterfly beating its wings, which is itself superimposed upon an X-ray profile of a human brain.

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Alternate Versions

The director's cut contains a few new scenes:

• Evan discovering that his grandfather had the same gift, and also was considered crazy, like his father
• Evan and Andrea go to a palm reader that tells Evan he has no lifeline
• Andrea telling Evan she was pregnant twice before he was born.
• A scene in the prison where the prisoners publicly read Evan's journals.
• A scene in the prison where the other prisoners come to rape Evan one night.
• An extended hospital scene where Evan is visiting sick Andrea.
• An alternate ending.

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Connections

Referenced in Being Human: Rewind, Rewind... (2014)

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Soundtracks

Sittin' Single
Written by John Yingst (as John Yigst) and Jan Peterson
Performed by Scott Eversoll
Courtesy of Marc Ferrari/Mastersource

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

Details

Official Sites:

Official Facebook

Country:

USA Canada

Language:

English

Release Date:

23 January 2004 (USA)

Also Known As:

The Butterfly Effect

Filming Locations:

Ceperley House, Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada

Box Office

Budget:

$13,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$17,100,000, 25 January 2004

Gross USA:

$57,938,693

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$96,822,421

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