The movie is just kind of stupid a lot of the time.
The rules in this movie change so much, first nobody knows Evan changed, and he can't remember the new world, then the prisoner notices the wounds in his hands appear (which disappear for the rest of the movie), then Evan remembers the changed world, but the new memories don't alter his personality at all.
Also, the father was always lamenting his "family curse" but attempts to have 3 kids. Kind of a silly thing to do.
Also you don't get sent to federal prison as you await a trial, you either wait on bail or (if you are a risk of skipping the trial) in minimum security county jail.
Also, every time Evan goes back in time to fix something, he fucks up the moments he has. Like standing next to the mailbox he knew would blow up, or lighting a bomb that he knows has a 3 second fuse. This isn't "going back always makes things worse", this is going back and making things worse then. Think of how badass the universe would have been that he stopped the bomb from killing the kid, but also didn't needlessly destroy himself.
Also, in the final timeline where he was in the looney bin, why did the doctor dismiss his ideas about different universes, something that shouldn't have been experienced by the Even in the that timeline until just then.
Also why did Even go back to his classroom and draw a picture of a knife murder? Just for consistency? That isn't as important when he stabs himself in the hands seconds later.
All of these complaints are with the script and story, and they are a little nitpicky. Everything else in the movie is ok (actors, visuals, ect). The story is just lacking.

It relies a character blackout for everything. That's basically the movie. The problem is that it goes down the logical path... So Evan didn't know what happened after the mailbox because of blackouts, but what happened would have been unavoidable gossip in the town, and even newsworthy. Outside of the basic blackout mysteries, and Ethan's confusion, there's nothing going on. Well theres a trip to a fortune teller, which seems pretty cheesy filler. Later on, and between the teenage drama, the whole plot is supernatural time wasting. Quantum leap meets Dawson Creek lite. And every time he changes the future, this complex butterfly effect, he just so happens to be around the exact same people and he himself is the same. Even his haircut is the same. Same weight. Everything. Even his journals are at hand. Apart from one time, but fear not. SPOILERS His old birth video has the same effect as the shaky letters. Who knew? What are the odds? So yeah, he goes back to when he was a baby in the womb and strangles himself with the umbilical cord. Then he (presumably) sees how life plays out, even though he wouldn't have been there to witness it.
Movies like this should be smart and the mystery should could from a gold script not a constant crutch of the character.

You can't change who people are without destroying who they were.

The Butterfly Effect - Directors Cut

The Butterfly Effect is directed by Eric Bress and Bress co-writes the screenplay with J. Mackye Gruber. It stars Ashton Kutcher, Melora Walters, Amy Smart, Elden Henson, William Lee Scott, Eric Stoltz and Ethan Suplee. Music is by Michael Suby and cinematography by Matthew F. Leonetti.


The title refers to the butterfly effect, the chaos theory of a popular hypothetical situation that illustrates how small initial differences may lead to large unforeseen consequences over time. The plot pitches Kutcher as Evan Treborn who suffers blackouts during critical mments in his life. When older he finds that through reading the journals he has written since a child, that he can go back in time to the significant events and change what happens. Unfortunately each time he does it comes at a great cost...

It was mercilessly kicked by the pro critics upon release, not helped by coming at a time when Kucher was something of a kicking post to critics. To compound the misery for the makers, they released a theatrical cut that featured a quite apalling ending. Inspite of these trevails at the time of release, the pic made a pot load of cash at the box office. Once the Directors Cut surfaced, with a key scene added to cement the different - quality - ending, time has seen the stock of the pic rise considerably. So much so that it currently sits at a 7.6 rating on IMDb and a 75% rating on TMDB, wile there are some critics who have come out and admitted they were too quick to judge the first release back in 2004.

What we have is a time travelling corkscrew narrative that is immensely sombre in telling how ones actions can have far-reaching consequences. It's a compelling and often thrilling picture, one that can spark hearty debate about the thematics at work - notably we the audience being forced to contemplate our own actions in life. The pic demands the utmost attention, switching off for a few minutes is a definite no no. Some scenes linger long in the memory as we trawl through the evil that kids and men do, right up to the unforgettable finale.

There's plot and logic holes, that are small irritants, and even though this definitely could have been better cast with more senior actors, none of the youthful cast members hurt the picture. It packs a punch, that is on proviso you only see the directors cut. 7.5/10