http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0289879/Written & directed by: Eric Bress & J.Mackye Gruber
Runtime: 113min
Cast: Ashton Kutcher, Amy Smart, Elden Henson, William Lee Scott
Genre: Drama/ Fantasy / Sci-fi / Thriller
Tagline: Change one thing. Change everything.
What if you could go back to a certain moment of your life and change everything? What if you did things differently? This movie explores these unreal possibilities. Evan Treborn suffers from memory blackouts, and keeps a journal to help him remember events which his mind would rather forget. With the help of his journals he kept for seven years, he finds a way to go back in time and alter his life.
We are presented with three time periods: Evan and his friends as children, as teenagers, and as grown-ups. Evan remembers events in flashbacks, which always provide something new that we didn’t know about his past. He manages to change his life several times by going back and doing things differently, but each time, something isn’t right, one of his friends or he himself has to suffer. You change one thing; you change everything, the whole life of other people and yours as well. Everything seems alright at first, but gradually it turns to the worse, so that Evan has to turn to his method of altering his life again and again.
The theme is fascinating; the situations created are full of surprises and the pace of the movie keeps you curious and ecxited. I was fascinated by the psychological approach of the movie. Evan's mind refuses to remember unpleasant memories. It is admirable how Evan alters the past not only for his own good, but for that of his friends, and mostly Kayleigh’s, who he’s in love with. The editing is also splendid; I appreciated how when Evan gets himself a “new life”, his memories start coming back in very fast and short flashbacks, we get a glance at how that particular version of life evolved; so we not only find out the present of that version but also get a peek in the past. It’s thrilling, because it really keeps you guessing what’s going to happen next; will everything work out well? The sound effects also contribute to the excitement and it’s also thought-provoking; it isn’t the type of movie you forget in a few days. I kept thinking about how one different decision could alter your whole life, and what if we had the possibility to do that. I also wondered how the casting director managed to find children who actually resembled to the actors; did he ask the actors to bring childhood photos of themselves? Well, I guess not.
This movie was my favourite for a time; and is probably the one I’ve seen the most times. The idea is absolutely brilliant and the execution is captivating. It is somewhat similar to “The family man” and “Sliding doors”, but explores not only two sides of potential life, but many more. The end couldn’t have been wittier. The movie supports the philosophical notion that life is the sum of all our choices. Is it? How would one different decision from our past alter our present? I guess we’ll never find out.
Runtime: 113min
Cast: Ashton Kutcher, Amy Smart, Elden Henson, William Lee Scott
Genre: Drama/ Fantasy / Sci-fi / Thriller
Tagline: Change one thing. Change everything.
What if you could go back to a certain moment of your life and change everything? What if you did things differently? This movie explores these unreal possibilities. Evan Treborn suffers from memory blackouts, and keeps a journal to help him remember events which his mind would rather forget. With the help of his journals he kept for seven years, he finds a way to go back in time and alter his life.
We are presented with three time periods: Evan and his friends as children, as teenagers, and as grown-ups. Evan remembers events in flashbacks, which always provide something new that we didn’t know about his past. He manages to change his life several times by going back and doing things differently, but each time, something isn’t right, one of his friends or he himself has to suffer. You change one thing; you change everything, the whole life of other people and yours as well. Everything seems alright at first, but gradually it turns to the worse, so that Evan has to turn to his method of altering his life again and again.
The theme is fascinating; the situations created are full of surprises and the pace of the movie keeps you curious and ecxited. I was fascinated by the psychological approach of the movie. Evan's mind refuses to remember unpleasant memories. It is admirable how Evan alters the past not only for his own good, but for that of his friends, and mostly Kayleigh’s, who he’s in love with. The editing is also splendid; I appreciated how when Evan gets himself a “new life”, his memories start coming back in very fast and short flashbacks, we get a glance at how that particular version of life evolved; so we not only find out the present of that version but also get a peek in the past. It’s thrilling, because it really keeps you guessing what’s going to happen next; will everything work out well? The sound effects also contribute to the excitement and it’s also thought-provoking; it isn’t the type of movie you forget in a few days. I kept thinking about how one different decision could alter your whole life, and what if we had the possibility to do that. I also wondered how the casting director managed to find children who actually resembled to the actors; did he ask the actors to bring childhood photos of themselves? Well, I guess not.
This movie was my favourite for a time; and is probably the one I’ve seen the most times. The idea is absolutely brilliant and the execution is captivating. It is somewhat similar to “The family man” and “Sliding doors”, but explores not only two sides of potential life, but many more. The end couldn’t have been wittier. The movie supports the philosophical notion that life is the sum of all our choices. Is it? How would one different decision from our past alter our present? I guess we’ll never find out.
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Unpredictable movie with an unexpected end...not something we see every day.
ReplyDeleteNice review! Thanks!