The Butterfly Effect

Stoner-comedy staple Ashton Kutcher (who, like a young Keanu Reeves, is hard to take seriously in any non-stoner role) stars in writer-director Eric Bress's paradox-packed, superficially chilling, high-concept, time-travel horror movie as a double-psychology major who suffered blackouts during his traumatic youth. Shaken by the suicide of a childhood girlfriend (Amy Smart), he inadvertently discovers he can jump back into his 12-year-old self and alter history, but after realizing that each change in the past begets something unexpectedly terrible in the present, he sets about trying to clean up after himself. The plot depends on twists that don't stand up to much intellectual scrutiny and there's no consistency to the film's internal logic (after one jump, new memories flood into his mind from someone else's life), so the movie's a bit of a mess even without the added burden of lightweight performances from its leads and distasteful shock-value scenes of the hero's childhood ordeals, including kiddie porn, barbequed pet dogs, and worse. Not recommended. [Note: DVD extras include Infinifilm popup links (and select-a-scene), the “Beyond the Movie” featurettes “The Science and Psychology of the Chaos Theory” (9 min.), and “The History and Allure of Time Travel” (13 min.), a subtitled fact track with history and trivia related to the film, an “All Access Pass” with audio commentary by co-writers/co-directors Eric Bress and J. Mackye Gruber, the featurettes “The Creative Process” (17 min.) and “Visual Effects” (15 min.), an 11-segment slideshow-style storyboard comparison gallery (7 min.), 9 deleted/alternate scenes with optional commentary (7 min.), a trailer, and DVD-ROM features including script-to-screen, an image gallery, commentary digest selections, and weblinks. Bottom line: a solid extras package for a disappointing film.] (R. Blackwelder)