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July 08, 2004

Movie Reviews in Five Words Or Less, And Then Some

Tonight's selection was "The Butterfly Effect," starring Ashton Kutcher, Amy Smart, and one of my personal favorite actors, Eric Stoltz, in the "have my agent book that now!" role of a pedophile, home-movie-happy father.

Ah, yes, my review:

Hey, I liked it, ok?

And now for the "and then some..."

I watched the director's cut, so perhaps I have a different take than the reviews I've read, but this movie wasn't so bad. I enjoyed it right up until the end, at which point anyone who, during pregnancy, has been witness to the ultrasound of their own child would kind of feel uncomfortable and... well... sad. But I'm not sure I watched the same flick as, say, Dave Kehr from the New York Times:

Starring Ashton Kutcher, the shaggy-haired young actor best known for "Dude, Where's My Car?" and for dating Demi Moore, "Butterfly" is a supposed thriller that mines the memory loss theme that has been turning up with striking regularity in American movies, from "Memento" to "Paycheck."

Actually, I think Kutcher is best known for "That 70s Show" and "Punk'd," and while Kutcher might have been dating Demi Moore, the snide remark of Mr. Kehr sounds more like someone who's jealous of the action in her pants than of a movie reviewer. Further, the "memory loss theme" is a catalyst to a larger story in this movie, not the focus; did Kehr actually watch the film, or did he just want to blast someone who's gettin' some lovin' that he isn't?

He continues:

For reasons the film does not trouble to explain, Evan discovers that, if he reads a few lines from his childhood journals, he will be projected back in time...

The film need not explain it, as it's a mere mechanism to gain access to the "real" story of the film; perhaps Mr. Kehr should review the concept of Willing Suspension of Disbelief (or, as I prefer, Willing Dispensation of Disbelief, because it sounds more like a seventy-five cent phrase, and the chicks dig those).

Kehr's entire review reads like someone who refused to even make an attempt to let the film wrap around them, to give into the story to see where it went, to stop thinking about where Ashton Kutcher sticks his pee pee and instead enjoy a tale unfolding on the screen.

Christ, this has turned into a review of Mr. Kehr's review, rather than my advice on whether or not to see this particular film. Allow me to summarize.

Is the movie perfect? No. Is it worth the rental? Certainly*.

* No, Ashton Kutcher did not offer to go down on me for this review as he did those thugs in the prison scene. At no time did I say to Mr. Kutcher "Shit on my dick or blood on my knife."