9/10
Change one thing. Change everything
2 January 2005
Warning: Spoilers
Evan has always suffered from something that causes him to "blackout" during times of extreme crisis. All through his childhood he would blank out right before something drastic happens and not remember anything that happened. Now in college, he reads through a journal he used to write as a kid to notice that all of a sudden these harmful memories are coming back to him. When he goes to ask his childhood sweetheart about it she doesn't want to talk about it. He finds out however, that he can actually tap into his past and change what happened in these events. Unfortunately, every time he changes the past, even in the slightest way the future is also effected.

All scores are out of a possible 10:

Story: 9 - VERY interesting story on psychology and how the mind sometimes blanks out events. Also playing on the theory of Butterfly Effect which is explained in the very beginning of the movie "If a butterfly flaps its wings on one side of the world, the ripple effect could cause a tempest on the other"

Acting: 8 - The lead girl in this movie did a great job. Since she was the result of many of the alternate realities, she had to go though as a crack whore, a sorority princess, a broken waitress and other things. Kutcher seemed to do what he does best... playing a crazy college kid. He's not as comedic in this role, but adds his charm in for fun. This isn't a comedy but its got its moments.

Music: 8 - A few good scores. On the more peaceful moments it sounds real well.

Sound Mix: 8 - Freaking scary! There are parts that really jump out at you. Since one of the dramatic events in the main character's life was dynamite going off, the sounds of him blacking out goes off like the dynamite exploding. I'll admit, i even jumped a few times.

Camera-work / Lighting: 7 - It suited the scenes real well. In some of the fight scenes it gets pretty wavy for effect that does real well and makes it more intense.

Editing: 9 - This must have been one of the hardest things in this movie. Since it involves alternate realities as well as time, a lot of thought must have gone into making all world seem to make sense. Since changing the reality effects where the main character is when he wakes up in the present, all of his "missed" memories flood back into him. They did really well with keeping the continuity up to par.

Uniqueness: 8 - Its not horror. It is scary most of the time, but its also a romance for the most part since his largest goal is making his girlfriend happy while keeping everything else in the world tame. It doesn't go into the sci-fi time travel stuff either which is good since its more of a mental thing than flux capacitors and DeLoreans.

Worth: 8 - Worth seeing. Even if you aren't a fan of Punk'd or Dude Where's My.. you'll enjoy seeing Kutcher in this role. The story is very gripping and almost makes you review how things could have changed in your life had some different events altered it.

Overall Score (Not an average): 8 - Really good movie. The sound is powerful, there's a good romance about this which should be cute for the tearjerkers who want something new. The acting is really good for the most part and the shock of some of the scenes will definitely grab people.

Reviewer's Insight (Including bias): Time travel has always been an interest for me. BackToTheFuture, my favorite book "Replay" by Ken Grimwood and some others. This movie isn't ALL about time travel. Its what small events in life end up resulting to, whether it be the biggest event in your life or a small one. Changing reality isn't truly the answer to happiness. As they say in the movie, You Can't Play God. Time will catch up to you no matter what you do to change it. "Change one thing. Change everything" as the movie's caption says and it definitely shows in every alternate reality he tries to effect.
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