"playing God"

What would you do if you could go back in time and change things about your past with just the blink of an eye? Or the viewing of a photograph? Or by reading a journal? New Line Cinema's "The Butterfly Effect" explores those possibilities.

Evan Treborn, played by Ashton Kutcher, has had a very troubled-and at times violent-childhood. At some point in his early years, he began having blackouts, which blocked the more devastating images from his memory. For example, minutes after he picks up a knife and his mother catches him with it in his hand, he can't remember why he had it or what had happened. His mother, with the help of a psychiatrist, suggests to Evan that he should start keeping a journal, which may help jog his memory after a blackout.

When Evan is in college outside his hometown (and has accumulated years' worth of journals), he has gone 7 years without a blackout. For one reason or another, he decides he needs to know what happened at specific blackout points in his childhood. He begins reading his old journals, and memories start hitting him like bricks. That's not enough for Evan, so he travels back home and begins asking questions to anyone who may be able to give him answers, from his mother to the kids he grew up with. (One of these childhood friends is Kayleigh, played by Amy Smart, whom Evan has been in love with since day one.)

The main focus of "The Butterfly Effect" is on Evan and his "ability": by reading his journals, Evan is able to jog his memory and somehow supernaturally re-enter himself into the memories, thereby allowing him to alter them as he chooses / pleases. He tries to alter them for good, mainly to help out his friends and the people he cares about, but inevitably ends up messing things up worse thanthey were.

There are 3 stages to each of the main character's lives: ages 7, 13, and adult. Rather than linking each actor to the character, you can go here to get all that information. For a run-down of the friends: Evan Treborn; Kayleigh Miller is Evan's first love, basically--she's a little blonde tomboy who, of course, grows up to be beautiful (or does she?); Tommy Miller is Kayleigh's brother--a sadistic, violent little shit (for lack of better terms) who has learned from his sick & abusive, equally sadistic father; Lenny Kagan is the stereotypical 'fat kid' of the group who is kind-hearted and made fun of by everyone except his friends; "Thumper" is Ethan's college roommate--a very large, gothic man.

Obviously there are more characters in the film than just 5 kids, but I didn't think they were as significant as the kids. The only other 2 who I thought were slightly more than remotely significant were Evan's mother (played by Melora Walters) and father (played by Callum Keith Rennie). Mrs. Treborn is raising Evan by herself, as Jason (Evan's father) is locked away in an institution--we find out he suffers from the same disease as his son. So it's not like *bam* this kid just has this disease; you get a little bit of background, and the relationship between mother and son is almost slightly bittersweet, yet touching.

To ramble a bit more, for those of you familiar with the chaos theory of mathematics / physics, you recognize "butterfly effect" as a phrase or idea that stems from the theory. (Basically, if the "butterfly effect" were true, a butterfly flapping it's wings in Missouri could cause an earthquake in Italy.) For more information on the chaos theory and the butterfly effect, I found this and this. And, for those of you who don't understand or just don't give a shit about the intelligence background of the movie, go here.

I really enjoyed this film. I'd been wanting to see it since it came out, but just never got around to it. (Plus, like many people, the idea of "Kelso" being a 'serious' actor just didn't do it for me--or seem to work, in my mind.) However, I personally thought that Ashton Kutcher did one hell of a job, and I would recommend this movie to anyone.