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An Affecting Effect
Ashton Kutcher punk'd us all: the kid can actually act.

Starring: Ashton Kutcher, Amy Smart, Elden Henson, Eric Stoltz, Ethan Suplee
Director: Eric Bress, J. Mackye Gruber

Reviewed by Kevin Cunningham

THE PITCH: A kid with a troubled childhood and frequent blackouts finds out when he's grown up that he can go back in time by concentrating on his memories. When he tries to fix the things that went wrong in his past, he finds out that he causes new and unexpected problems in his future. IN OTHER WORDS: Quantum Leap meets The Simpsons: Treehouse of Horror.

It's hard to look at Ashton Kutcher, and not think of one of two things: Pot (considering his stoner roles in Dude, Where's My Car and That '70's Show) and Pranks (considering his show Punk'd). Not that these are terribly bad things. Heaven knows that you can make a solid if spectacular career off of playing a pothead (ask Tommy Chong), and Punk'd pulls pranks on the one group of Americans who desperately deserve it: Celebrities.

There's a lot more, though, in Ashton's talent file. At least that's the way it seems after watching The Butterfly Effect. The film's biggest strength isn't Ashton, though. It's the script, which is remarkably more intelligent than the vast majority of thrillers that are out there. It plays to a simple and very common dream, going to the past and fixing the things that went wrong in our pasts. But it doesn't bother to explain how, and perhaps that's one of the strengths of the script. It doesn't challenge physics by explaining how Aston's character can go back in time. He just can. That's enough for him, and satisfyingly, that's enough for the audience.

Of course, the film's title refers to Chaos Theory, and anything can happen (and does) everytime that Ashton goes back in time. Thankfully, the twists and turns are entirely telegraphed, though you might guess a couple if you watch the trailer before the film. The film also plays out in a very old-fashioned manner, by playing things out slowly at first and setting things up, then speeding up the closer it gets to it's climax. It's a very basic bit of pacing that a lot of modern thrillers don't do well anymore, and it's appreciated here.

However, the key to this film is definitely Ashton Kutcher. It's not all that hard to butcher more intelligent scripts, but Ashton comes into this role prepared, and plays it with a lot of seriousness, a quality that certainly doesn't come to mind very often when thinking about him. It's a bit of a revelation, and is a nice thing to see.

Ultimately, this role for Ashton is a lot like Brad Pitt's role in se7en. Before that movie, it was easy to dismiss Pitt as a hunk, someone in movies to play up for the girls, but after se7en, it was impossible to not see Pitt as a serious actor. Especially after roles in the movies since then, such as 12 Monkeys and Snatch, Pitt's proven himself as a serious actor unafraid of literally any role. If this is indeed Ashton's breakout role, it could be a sign of a very promising career indeed.

The DVD itself is packed with extras, in the tradition of New Line Cinema's 'Infinifilm' line. The option is only available on the Director's Cut of the film (the theatrical version is on the flipside), but the ability to connect deleted scenes, commentaries and documentaries with the specific parts of the film they relate to is a feature that other studios should take advantage of. The fact track is a bit random (Did we really need the stats on teen smoking?) but also fun. The best of the extra features is, however, the four (Yes, four) different endings. The one seen in theaters is on the theatrical side of the disc, and the others can be seen in the Director's cut side of the disc (one in the film itself, the other two in special features). I guess it makes sense that a film dealing so closely with chaos theory could end up in so many different ways.

Rating	Film:(3 out of 4 stars)
	Extras: (3.5 out of 4 stars)
	Overall: (3.5 out of 4 stars)

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