The Butterfly Effect

(Recommended by Julia)

It has been said that something as small as the flutter of a butterfly’s wing can ultimately cause a typhoon halfway around the world. Chaos theory

This quote attributed to Chaos Theory begins the movie The Butterfly Effect. The film stars Ashton Kutcher as a young man named Evan who is mysteriously afflicted with the same type of mental illness as his father. The illness affects memories and the young Evan has many bad memories to repress, particularly certain things that happened with three playmates from his youth. He begins keeping a journal, and as an adult, discovers he can go back in time to change the events he has experienced.

Evan’s ability to change the past results in a very different present each time he does this sort of time travel. The film is thoughtful, scary, and made me think about the "if onlys" in my life. How many of us have thought “if only”. If only I had chosen that other path, my life would be different today. Evan’s experience reminds me that changing the past could have resulted in a future not nearly as good as the one I’m currently in. It also reminds me that every choice I make, no matter how small it seems, has repercussions in my life and in the lives of those around me.

This film is visually very interesting whenever the time travel occurs, and Ashton Kutcher does a good job acting as the young man tormented by psychological demons. The film is rated R for violence, sexual content, language, and brief drug use. If you liked films such as 12 Monkeys, and Jacob's Ladder, you may enjoy The Butterfly Effect.