The Butterfly Effect

November 5, 2005

He still kind of sucks – just not totally. He’s actually likable in this mish-mash of a movie. I admit, Kutcher may very well be squeaking by on my residual good will towards the Back to the Future series – because really, this is the SAME FUCKIN’ MOVIE. Even so, Kutcher’s a suitable replacement for Marty McFly. He’s good looking in an all-american sort of way – and is it just me, or is Kutcher just totally babalicious sans hands? …crickets chirping… Alrighty then, I guess it’s just me.

The film gets its title from the Ray Bradbury short story, A Sound of Thunder (which was also recently brought to the big screen with a resounding thud.) The movie might have made far more sense if butterflies were literally killed en masse, causing all of Kutcher’s problems. Instead, all of his problems are supposedly caused by blackouts. What would be significantly traumatizing events in his life end up in blackouts – a not uncommon coping mechanism. As an adult, he finds that he has the ability to jump into his younger self during these blackouts. Hindsight is 20/20, so he begins trying to fix fucked up situations, but he keeps fucking things up worse. So he’s able to change the past, although he’s not literally traveling back in time. Does your head hurt yet?

Over the years, I’ve become a fan of Ethan Suplee – he just pops up EVERYWHERE. From Mallrats to American History X to this movie, he’s damn funny. His size is a funny “prop”, but definitely not the whole of his talent. The Butterfly Effect is probably the last place you’ll see Suplee in all his 300+ pound glory. He’s lost over a hundred pounds this year. As evidenced by My Name is Earl, he didn’t lose any of the pounds that were funny.

I read that the DVD has alternate ending that has him fixing everything by traveling back to the moment of his birth and strangling himself with his umbilical cord. I totally would have given 3 BOBs if the film had been released with that ending! I totally want to watch that scene to see if fetal Ashton still sports the trademark smirk and trucker hat! (If anyone has the DVD, let me know.)

Oh and I heard there’s a sequel in the works…yeah, that worked GREAT for The Ring. Awesome idea, you greedy fuckers.