Fly By

Flutter byes, eh?  Pretty little things, closely related to ugly-as-sin moths.  But now also the name of one of my favourite films.

The Butterfly Effect.  This little movie has been sitting in my LOVEFiLM queue since my sister Wendy went to see it in the cinema.  She seemed to enjoy it.  It arrived in the middle of last week, but like Lee with Saw and RHPS, I just couldn’t bring myself to watch it.  Was it the fact that it sounded a bit soppy?  Was it because my sister liked it?  Or was it because the main character was played by Ashton Kutcher – the twerp from ‘That 70’s Show’?  Well, after the Bonfire Night blitz, and after watching the 2005 remake of The Amityville Horror, mother and I decided to give it a try.

Wow.  What a film.  There aren’t that many films that I have seen that keep me in awe and dig up some emotion in this hardened shell of mine (whatever).  The trailer, the synopsis, the bloody poster art do not do this film justice.  And I’ve hardly heard anyone speak of it either!  Crime!  I was sitting through this amazing piece of celluloid, literally squirming, shocked and on the edge of my seat.  And that ending!  Well, my hand was up over my mouth in sheer disbelief – I normally leave myself open to enjoy the ride, and this film clearly took me on one.  It reminds me of Donnie Darko actually, another great film.  Even though this one doesn’t deal with tangent timelines and ‘receivers’ (which also means it’s not as complex and in need of an external explanation), it still is a cleverly crafted story which should please anyone who likes that film.  Ashton’s role in it has also made me like him more – and not just because of the fact that he is shirtless in the film at some points, and makes me go phwoar (although it does help!).

As always, if I enjoy a film I will see what others thought of it online.  It currently has a score of 7.7/10 on the IMDb – very commendable – but many people criticise this score, saying it’s far too high!  Maybe they’re too simple to enjoy a film of this calibre – they seemed to shoot it down wherever they could.  But maybe they don’t like the fact that it’s ending isn’t the de facto Hollywood sap-fest that it usually is.  Apparently the theatrical release of the film had scenes cut and a completely different ending – the DVD version is the director’s cut, and from what I’ve read and seen from the deleted scenes, I’d say the director’s cut is far beyond the theatrical release.  Sure, the ending of either isn’t particularly ‘happy’, but the original ending is just so powerful and made me very emotional.  No I did not cry!  But I was gob smacked, and it got me thinking about things.  I’ve got a feeling it may creep up and haunt me every now and then – not many films do that.

Until next time – please see this film.  And writers of the sequel (yes there is a sequel – currently set for release in 2007), please make it at least as good as the first.  Difficult I know, but try!