Blockbuster.co.uk - DVD - Rent 'Butterfly Effect, The'

Change one thing.

Change everything.

A gripping supernatural thiller, The Butterfly Effect is a dark and disturbing twist on the time travel theme which features excellent performances from Ashton Kutcher, Amy Smart and Eric Stoltz.

Evan Treborn (Ashton Kutcher) has lost track of time. From an early age, he has suffered from memory blackouts at pivotal moments in his life and his childhood has been marred by a series of terrifying events he can't remember.

Throughout his childhood, Evan was under the care of a psychologist who encouraged him to keep a journal, detailing the events of his day-to-day life. Now in college, Evan reads from one of those journals and finds himself thrust inexplicably back in time.

Evan comes to realize the notebooks he keeps under his bed are a vehicle, a way to return to the past to reclaim his memories. But these recollections only leave Evan feeling responsible for the damaged lives of his friends, especially Kayleigh (Amy Smart), the childhood sweetheart he still loves.

Determined to do something now that he was incapable of doing then, Evan purposely travels back in time, his present-day mind occupying his childhood body, in an attempt to re-write history and spare his friends and loved ones these traumatic experiences. By altering the events of the past, Evan hopes to transform the present.

But every time Evan changes something in the past, he returns to the present to find his actions have unexpected and disastrous consequences. Try as he might, he can't seem to create a reality that allows he and Kayleigh to live "happily ever after."

© 2004 Icon Home Entertainment. All rights reserved.

Ashton Kutcher puts in an amazing performance as Evan Treborn who grows ever more desperate and deranged as each attempt to improve reality causes more problems as it changes the world around him. The star of MTV candid camera show 'Punk'd', Kutcher previously made his name in comedy. The Butterfly Effect represents Kutcher's first attempt to break out in a dramatic role and inspired the young actor so much that he assigned himself the job of the film's Executive Producer.

Was making The Butterfly Effect a deliberate choice to get away from your comedy image?

“ No. It was a deliberate choice to do something new. I always want to keep doing new different things and stuff I haven't done before. It was a deliberate decision to challenge myself. Honestly, it was a movie that was a dramatic movie. I appreciated the character. I appreciated the metaphor of the story. I appreciated the message of the movie. ”

Can you identify with your character?

“ In certain respects, yes. I think in the aspect of being a person who has a great deal to overcome and a great amount of love to give. I really think love is the common denominator. In society we choose to black out the traumatic things that happen in this world whether it be child molestation or something else as horrific. There is a brothel halfway across the world in a country where they are prostituting out five year-old girls. Do we want to face that as a society? Do we want to acknowledge that that exists? No we don't. ”

It is also about making changes in your past life to improve your present one. Would you change something in your past to alter the present?

“ I think I do on a daily basis. I think these are the obstacles that are in our way that we are to overcome as people. That's really what we are here for, to overcome our obstacles. I have relationships in the past in my life that have fallen apart. It is my job to mend those relationships. And that is changing the past. ”

Where would you like to see yourself in five years' time?

“ I hope to still be alive. I hope to be a little bit wiser, a little bit closer to the creator and I hope to be a more giving, sharing person. ”

There are 20:1 odds on the Internet that you will marry Demi Moore this year.

“ I'll put a bet in then and I'll fix the game. [laughs] ”

You seem to have bonded so well with Demi's children. Do you look at them like they are your little sisters or your kids?

“ I try to help them in their lives. I try to help them with the problems that they have and they bring me a lot of joy. But to really define what I am to them would be very difficult. And unnecessary. I don't think they need to be able to have a label for me to appreciate what I do for them. And I don't need to have a label for them to be able to appreciate what they do for me. ”

Are you surprised how much focus has been paid to that aspect of your life?

“ I am surprised we are doing an interview for The Butterfly Effect and we are talking about this. Yes. Why? Why do people want to see it? I don't know. I think if people would focus more on their lives and the problems we were talking about earlier that maybe we'd be living in a better place. ”

What do you do to protect yourself from the press?

“ I don't read it. I don't watch the TV shows that are about that. I don't read the magazines that make things up about people. I know what the truth is. I don't sort of indulge in my own fodder. I don't really care what they write about me. ”

Does fame frighten you?

“ I don't look at it that way. I go to work. I do my job. I'm constantly working on something new whether it's producing another TV show or another film. I have a wonderful relationship. I have a great family. I have amazing friends. I live my life like anybody else, and people choose to write about mine. And what they write I can't control - when they write lies at least - because the laws can't really protect you unless you can prove malicious intent. So I just choose not to read it. And don't get me wrong, a lot of it is fun. There are a lot of perks that come with fame and with every positive there's a negative and then it all kind of balances out. The travelling is great. You get to see so many different places but there's a downside; having everything splattered across every media resource that exists, being chased by photographers and have them sit at the end of your driveway every day. But it all kind of balances. ”

You've shown us you are a capable dramatic actor in The Butterfly Effect but that's not what the general public cares about. How detrimental is this other media spotlight?

“ I don't think it's detrimental. My work will speak for itself I think. Before I ever met Demi I managed to figure out how to be on a sitcom for five years. I managed to figure out how to produce and make my own television show. I managed to make a couple of films that did extremely well. I was on Saturday Night Live. I was on the cover of Rolling Stone. So I managed to have a pretty good career before I met my current significant other and I think I'll manage to have a pretty good one after. ”

How has this crazy journey you've been on changed you?

“ How long do we have to talk? I guess I started to believe in myself a little bit more. If I really wanted something I could have it, that anything was possible. I grew up a lot and I've been realising the responsibility that I have as a person and that my actions count and I can make a difference with my actions. And that my problems are pretty petty compared to the problems of the world and that just by being aware of the chaos that exists I can actually make a difference and do something really good with all of this as opposed to making it all about me and doing it for myself. ”

Ashton Kutcher Filmography

Butterfly Effect, The

Title Information

Trailers

Post on

Average Member Rating

How It Was Rated

Blockbuster Feature

Related Themes

Blockbuster Feature