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The Butterfly Effect

I went in for this movie with no expectations at all. I came out pleasantly surprised, and somewhat satisfied.

The movie is about the decisions we make in life, and how one small decision can change the lives of everyone around us almost completely! In this, it is somewhat similar to Lola Rennt. But there is a subtle difference. Lola Rennt actually showed that some things are completely outside our control. For example, depending on whether a dog barks at you while you are going down the stairs or not, you’ll either live or die at the end of the day! Butterfly Effect, on the other hand is all about the effect of small conscious decisions and actions that we make all the time. It is kind of the same thing, but looking it from the opposite direction.

[MILD SPOILER ALERT]

So the story is about this guy who had these blackouts every now and then when he was a kid. Every now and then he just has no memory about what happened during short periods of time. Then when he grows up he finds a way of not only rediscovering this memory, but is also able to change what he did during these periods! So he can basically go back in time, change the way he behaved, and when he comes back he is a different person at a different place! Interesting idea.

While I was writing that, it occured to me that he actually goes back and changes ALL the blackout occurences. So could it be that the blackouts occur because he came back to change them!? Could this be something to do with parallel universes, and the blackouts are corridors to another universe or something? And could these new corridors be created at random where he wishes? I think the movie suddenly became more interesting than I first thought!

The movie reminds me of Donnie Darko. Both had this thing about time travel/parallel universes etc. But sadly Butterfly Effect is not even in the same league as Donnie Darko. The acting was awful all around! I kind of liked the way the story was presented, specially the way the blackouts were handled. Direction and editing were fairly good. But the acting spoils the movie…

Another thing I did not like was the ending. There would have been about a million better ways to end the movie. In fact, if they just ended the movie about 10 minutes earlier than they did, it would have been just awesome! Perhaps just after he talks to the doc and we get an alternate explaination for everything. Ending it right there would have left a big open question, which is something I like in movies. There could have been other cool endings as well.

Well, the great news is that the director initially had a different ending for the movie. It was changed to make it more suitable for a mass release, and the original ending is going to be included as an extra on the DVD. Here is a quote from the director:

That was one of the problems over the years—the ending. Everybody thought it was amazing, but they didn’t know a mass audiences would take it. But we got the opportunity and thank God for DVDs, because the theatrical ending is great and thematically, our [original] ending and that one are the same — it’s just how we go about it. It’s crazy, and it’ll blow your minds.
- Mackye Gruber

I cant wait to get my hands on the DVD. A better ending might change this movie from a good one to something that is truly great!

Edit: Interesting paradox in the movie (possible SPOILER). This is kind of like the Grandfather Paradox. Let us assume that the theory that the protagonist can actually go back to any point in time he choses, and that would it would result in a blackout for that period. Now, for going back in time, and even discovering how to do that he would have needed his old journals. But the journals started only because he was having those blackouts! So, which came first: the blackouts resulting in the journals, or the journals resulting in time travel and blackouts? Or is this theory itself flawed. Maybe the story really is quite simple and linear : he has blackouts, and then he uses them to change the past (he can go back only for the periods he had blackouts)? I think this is quite interesting, and the movie goes deeper than it appears. I’ll post more if I come up with any other ideas about this…

Posted by ankit at January 25, 2026 01:12 AM | TrackBack