Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE: The Butterfly Effect

This is topic The Butterfly Effect in forum Film Handlers' Movie Reviews at Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE.

To visit this topic, use this URL:
https://ft-forum.com/ft/cgi-bin/ubb/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=4;t=000714

Posted by Jason Black (Member # 684) on 01-22-2004, 09:13 PM:

Man.. what a flick. I'm not sure what *really* happens in this film, but it's one you definitely exercise your brain in. Or at least my brain got a workout.

Caught between what's real and what isn't, the viewer is continually wondering exactly WTF is happening. The subplots all intertwine to make a pretty decent overall storyline.

I'm surprised that Ashton Kutcher can actually act on somewhat of a decent level. I think he's pretty cool regardless of his acting capabilities solely on the fact he's doing the horizontal mombo with Demi Moore. Ey-Yei-yei.... [eyes]

Posted by Aaron Garman (Member # 1653) on 01-23-2004, 02:03 AM:

I may chime in for more later, but dang! Great film! It does really keep you on your toes, thinking what the hell is going on. Reccomended!

AJG

Posted by Don Anderson (Member # 397) on 01-23-2004, 12:37 PM:

I certainly liked it too! But, this film must have been shelved for a few years, and then finally released because of Ashton's current fame. Gee whiz, also has him producing it. Imagine that?? The storyline is very bizarre, but well done. Very violent, thus the R rating. I surely recommend seeing the film, you are going to either love it, or walk out. [thumbsup]

Posted by Dave Williams (Member # 299) on 01-23-2004, 09:19 PM:

The screeing up at sundance was a huge comical success. bad news considering it is not a comedy. Got huge laughs at all the wrong moments that just killed the movie. All anyone could think of is watching that 70's show as a horror movie. Just killed the show.

Dave

Posted by David Stambaugh (Member # 1102) on 01-24-2004, 12:35 AM:

01/23/2004, Regal Cinema World 8, Eugene OR, 7:30PM, House #4, probably SR-D. Attendance only about 25. Overall xlnt presentation, no complaints.

The editing, visual effects, and soundtrack are top-notch. The story, although preposterous, is still pretty interesting and I wasn't bored by it -- it's actually pretty riveting.

The bad: Some of the dialog is laughable. Ashton Kutcher is OK, but every once in a while I thought a little Kelso surfaced.

On a 4-star scale, I'll give it 2 1/2 stars. Not bad, could have been better, yet better than it has a right to be. (I think I'm stealing that line from someone like Roger Ebert, not sure... [Wink]

)

Posted by John Carpenter (Member # 1488) on 01-24-2004, 11:25 AM:

I have to concur with most of what has been said so far. I think overall it was a very good film. [thumbsup]

The story was very intersting but it is also very disturbing at parts. Great movie if you like to think about "what if..."
Most distracting part of the film - Ashton Kutcher
Most marketable part of the film - Ashton Kutcher
(but I guess he did a lot better in this role than most had expected)
In this huge college market - the film was very busy... sold out all we could give it on opening night. Listening to comments at exit - most were favorable, but a few were very critical of the film. There didnt seem to be any "middle of the road" comments.
We did have several walkouts due to it being too intense - one girl ran out in tears out with her boyfriend... not sure at what part she gave in though. Hey at least she didnt stop asking for a refund [Wink]

Posted by Richard Greco (Member # 2032) on 01-25-2004, 09:10 AM:

Great Movie

I saw it at the local Drive-In last night. This movie was totally shocking. After a while I started to understand how everything fit together. At more than a few scenes I started saying "Holy [bs]

"

s
p
o
i
l
e
r
*
a
h
e
a
d

I did happen to notice 2 cars leave with the scene where the dog got burned.

I think this movie was shelved as well. The MPAA number on the end of it was #39408 I think. The movies now are in the #40000 range.

I did see a little of Kelso in Ashton Kutcher because he was a big wuss. He was f'ed up in the head though so I can understand with that. Tommy....well Tommy was sick and demented.

Overall I liked this movie. Could've been a bit brighter though. Hard to see at times.

3 out of 5 stars

Posted by Carl Martin (Member # 1146) on 01-26-2004, 04:34 AM:

jeez, i can't believe these responses. i screened it after buildup and thought it was complete shit. i'd be surprised if i see a worse movie all year.

<coupla spoilers>

the writing, acting, and music are execrable. i could respect the idea of giving the movie a different look in each alternate reality, if only they weren't all ugly. if the movie had been successful on some level and drawn me in, i might have found that prison bitch scene daring. as it is it's just embarrassing.

when wheelchair-bound amputee ashton did his weepy quivering-lip thing, i just had to laugh. pathetic.

we opened this gem in a small house, but it should have been straight-to-video. not even dvd.

carl

Posted by Dennis M Dow Jr (Member # 1970) on 01-27-2004, 08:33 PM:

This was definitely one of the strangest movies I have seen in a long time. Just when you figure one thing out it gets all jumbled up. The different realities all had thier drawbacks and watching Kutcher try to figure how to make the best one was interesting.
I liked this movie as it was different from a lot of the crap that is out now. give it 3 outta 4 stars

Posted by Richard Greco (Member # 2032) on 01-27-2004, 09:19 PM:

Don said

quote:
I certainly liked it too!

OMG, We actually both agree on a movie? Clutching My Heart.....

This could be the beginning of a new friendship

[thumbsup]

Posted by Dave Williams (Member # 299) on 01-27-2004, 10:40 PM:

Now I have actually gone and seen this film. I am truly sorry for anyone that hated this film from the get go. I think quite often people pre judge a film and then find ways to justify it.

If the film sucked then either most people are stupid or perhaps some people just don't get out of the booth and away from the cleaning supplies long enough.

Besides, critics included, when you see enough films, you tend to get a bit jaded when you are presented with anything starring ashton kutcher. There has to be a bit of jealousy in the hate that many have for him.

I thought he did a pretty good job considering this is his first venture into serious film. Although he is making the leap a bit faster than other physical comics, ie. Tom Hanks and Jim Carrey, remember that they were once hated and repulsed by critics as well. But now when they do the serious, we actually take them seriously.

Ten years from now, we may just see the same with Ashton. Remember he is young, he has many years ahead of him, and he is trying, which is more than I can say for those that are just wanting to tear him down. I doubt any one of his detractors could have done any a better job on this film.

That said, it was a very well written and thought out thriller. I was saddened by the fact that there was no closure on the painting he did in school, but I imagine that was probably a scene that was cut in post production, for whatever reason. The rest of the story seems to have tied itself up rather neatly, without too much of a happy hollwood ending, and without that standard dead guy comes back from the grave to haunt us for a sequel gag we get from so much drivel like this genre produces.

I will give this 2.75 stars out of four, mostly because of Kelso's lame attempt to look crazy in the end, instead he looks like an escaped gorilla, not an escaped mental patient. I laughed out loud maybe five times, four of which I know I wasn't supposed to. The story and direction were right on for a couple of first timers, and considering again that this is ashtons first real film, and Ethan Suplee was great in an unfortunately small supporting role, etc ect.

So give the big goof a break. He will improve over time. Cut the guy some slack. At least he is out there willing to make an ass out of himself for the sake of entertainment. He is probably the luckiest sob on the earth right now, and I do believe he knows it.

After all, we don't judge Tom Hanks on Batchelor Party or Busom Buddies, yet that was his roots, and he went on to win two very well deserved academy awards. Jim carrey got robbed in Truman Show and The Majestic, but his day will come. Robin Williams, look at him, all the way from Mork from Ork.

Ashton is a funny guy, young and inexperienced. I will give him a break, as some here have. I think he has great promise, and I will bank on any movie he makes as pure bank, so lets hope he has some agents smarter than he is to make sure he doesn't go the road of Yakof Smirnoff.

Ciao.

Dave

Posted by David Stambaugh (Member # 1102) on 01-28-2004, 02:26 PM:

I gotta agree with you Dave. When an actor is so strongly identified with a "goofball" character like Kelso, it's gonna be hard for him to break out of that mold. For a first attempt at a serious role, he was plenty good enough in this.

I thought the casting of the younger versions of Ashton were dead-on. In the latter half of the film, they did a great job "channeling" the adult Ashton, especially the youngest one. Well done.

The film is far from perfect, but it tries to be different, it has an interesting plot (to me), and is made with style and energy. Therefore I gave it the benefit of the doubt and went with it.

Posted by Pravin Ratnam (Member # 1417) on 01-31-2004, 01:16 PM:

Count me as one of those pleasantly surprised by this movie. The movie starts of a little awkward with some stiff acting by the lady who plays Ashton's mom. And the direction of some of the early scenes seems not good enough to handle the nasty themes involved.

But once you get past all that, the movie story is pretty interesting. Think of it as a grim non-stylish non-musical version of Run Lola Run. It is definitely better than Sliding Doors which was way too bland and cutesy for my taste.

Just keep in mind that some of the early scenes with the kids are uncomfortable(one of the bad guys is a pedophile). So don't go in expecting "An Ashton Kutcher dramatic adaptation of Punkd".

Overall, a good movie.

The idiots at AMC Parkway Pointe put this in one of their smaller screens and it was filled up. Meanwhile, Big Bounce and Big fish were put in their biggest theaters and they were mostly empty(I took a peek). How dumb can management be putting a movie that made the most money the prior week in a small house. At least, I used only a free pass because the dumb morons did the same thing when i went to see a new action movie late last year. I decided to walk out at that time because they misinformed over the phone and they gave me passes.

Posted by Jason Black (Member # 684) on 01-31-2004, 01:34 PM:

Pravin scribe:

quote:
The idiots at AMC Parkway Pointe put this in one of their smaller screens and it was filled up. Meanwhile, Big Bounce was put in their biggest theater and it was mostly empty(I took a peak). How dumb can the management be.

Stemming from the fact that this *is* a major chain operation, I would imagine that the house placement, at least yesterdays placement, would have been dictated by someone behind a desk hundreds of miles away. Given that, after the 7pm shows, where tim ewould allow, a good manager would have swapped houses. If time did not allow, it should be chnaged prior to the first show the following day.

Quite possibly another fine example of micromanagement at it's finest! And we all know that chains don't do that.. + [Mad]

Posted by Pravin Ratnam (Member # 1417) on 01-31-2004, 01:50 PM:

Even if one micromanaged this from the HQ, why would they make such a decision since Butterfly Effect made good money nationwide. It is only in its second weekend. Why not place it at least in one of their top 4 screens if one went by boxoffice potential.

Besides, I was pissed that either I missed Kill Bill Vol 2 teaser(probably the first one showed) or they didn't show it(Heard the Regals weren't showing it before this movie, but before Mystic River of all movies). I don't know if AMC has a similar policy with this teaser. Good thing I was able to view it online.

Posted by Jason Black (Member # 684) on 01-31-2004, 02:02 PM:

Pravin,

We're playing the Kill Bill 2 teaser.

As for the micromanagement issue, it could have been that the HO dictated where the new films went but none of the others. This would prove that the house manager was, IMO, inept.

Posted by David Stambaugh (Member # 1102) on 01-31-2004, 07:10 PM:

Regal here showed the Kill Bill Vol. 2 teaser before Butterfly Effect...

Posted by Carl Martin (Member # 1146) on 02-01-2004, 02:57 AM:

the obvious reason is that amc just went by the titles and put them in "big" houses.

carl