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The Butterfly Effect (2004)

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All Critics
Top Critics

Average Rating: 4.8/10
Reviews Counted: 167
Fresh: 55 | Rotten: 112

The premise is intriguing, but it's placed in the service of an overwrought and tasteless thriller.

Average Rating: 3.8/10
Critic Reviews: 34
Fresh: 6 | Rotten: 28

The premise is intriguing, but it's placed in the service of an overwrought and tasteless thriller.

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Average Rating: 3.6/5
User Ratings: 543,714

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Movie Info

Final Destination 2 screenwriters Eric Bress and J. Mackye Gruber make their directorial debut with the sci-fi thriller The Butterfly Effect. Evan Treborn (Ashton Kutcher with facial hair) wants to free himself from his disturbing childhood memories. As a kid, he often blacked out for long periods of time and tried to detail his life in a journal. As a young adult, he revisits the journal entries to figure out the truth about his troubled childhood friends Kayleigh (Amy Smart), Lenny (Elden

R, 1 hr. 53 min.

Drama, Mystery & Suspense, Science Fiction & Fantasy

Directed By: Eric Bress , J. Mackye Gruber

Written By: Eric Bress, J. Mackye Gruber

In Theaters: Jan 23, 2004 Wide

On DVD: Jul 20, 2007

Box Office:$57.7M

New Line Cinema

Nothing can save this repetitive bore. Dude, where's your memory?

January 29, 2004 Comment

Peter Travers

Rolling Stone

Top Critic

Not one second of this bilge makes a lick of sense.

January 29, 2004 Full Review Source: New York Observer

| Comment

Rex Reed

New York Observer

Top Critic

Kutcher is the wrong actor to anchor a psychological freak-out.

January 29, 2004 Full Review Source: Entertainment Weekly

| Comment

Owen Gleiberman

Entertainment Weekly

Top Critic

It's one of the most unpleasant Hollywood films in some time.

January 24, 2004 Full Review Source: Salon.com

| Comment

Charles Taylor

Salon.com

Top Critic

A flawed but serviceable thriller.

January 23, 2004 Comment

Michael O'Sullivan

Washington Post

Top Critic

Sloppily conceived and clunkily paced, the movie goes from improbable to preposterous within its first few minutes; over the next two hours the filmmakers never miss a chance for some gratuitous piece of sadism, sexuality or sleaze.

January 23, 2004 Comment (1)

Ann Hornaday

Washington Post

Top Critic

Ouch. Ouch. Ouch. So very bad.

December 28, 2010 Full Review Source: Common Sense Media

| Comment

Nell Minow

Common Sense Media

Tries hard to be affecting and mind-blowing, and sometimes it comes close.

January 31, 2008 Full Review Source: eFilmCritic.com

| Comment

Rob Gonsalves

eFilmCritic.com

More like "The Gag Reflex."

November 18, 2005 Full Review Source: Bangor Daily News (Maine)

| Comments (3)

Christopher Smith

Bangor Daily News (Maine)

The film is not eccentric enough to have a lasting cult appeal, but it is reasonably enjoyable as it unfolds.

February 15, 2005 Full Review Source: Movie City News

| Comment

Douglas Pratt

Movie City News

this is exactly the sort of movie I like to see.

January 16, 2005 Full Review Source: LYTRules.com

| Comments (3)

Luke Y. Thompson

LYTRules.com Source: LYTRules.com

Assez bien dans l'ensemble, mais la fascinante pr�mise n'est jamais vraiment exploit� � sa hauteur.

December 16, 2004 Comment

Louis-J�r�me Cloutier

Panorama

Despite a fairly upbeat ending, the ugly images dominate the film with the time/reality plot a bloody nose afterthought.

October 14, 2004 Full Review | Comment

Steve Crum

Kansas City Kansan Source: Kansas City Kansan

Cool theories...don't necessarily guarantee good stories...[even if Ashton Kutcher] is repeatedly punk'd by the space-time continuum.

September 24, 2004 Full Review Source: Style Weekly (Richmond, VA)

| Comment

Thomas Peyser

Style Weekly (Richmond, VA) Source: Style Weekly (Richmond, VA)

Walks a super-thin line between horrific believability and hilarious unbelievability.

August 10, 2004 Full Review Source: Window to the Movies

| Comment

Jeffrey Chen

Window to the Movies

One of the most thoughtful films of 2004.

July 16, 2004 Comments (4)

Forrest Hartman

Reno Gazette-Journal Source: Reno Gazette-Journal

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Audience Reviews for The Butterfly Effect

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A boy suffering from memory lapses is diagnosed with a hereditary mental illness but later in life learns he is capable of revisiting previous moments in his life. A variant on the whole wish fulfillment concept we've all thought about where you imagine going back to a point in your own life and try to change things

February 16, 2007

xGary Xx

Super Reviewer

Intense. The multiple stories were legitimately interesting but I couldn't take Ashton Kutcher seriously. Fortunately, I was watching this movie in good company.

January 14, 2012

Letitia Lew

Super Reviewer

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