Movie Notes: Chaos Theory

June 28th, 2008

= 2 stars

Starring Ryan Reynolds, Emily Mortimer, Stuart Townsend
Directed by Marcos Siega

Synopsis

Efficiency expert Frank Allen (Ryan Reynolds) misses his morning ferry, setting off a chain of events that estranges him from wife Susan (Emily Mortimer) and daughter Jesse. Frank undergoes a nervous breakdown and hilarity ensues.

The Good

• Reynolds, with trimmed beard and anal-retentive glasses, is pretty funny with this material, and I did laugh out loud as he became more unhinged and began employing his novel “index card” decision-making technique. Emily Mortimer is also very good, adding needed heart to Susan, Frank’s wife.
• Interesting cinematography featuring the Pacific Northwest — many scenes are lit and shot in inventive ways. Most notable is a bar fight and Allen destroying a hotel room.

The Bad

• The film is stuck halfway between feel-good romantic comedy and dark humor extravaganza. As a result, Frank’s argument with best friend Buddy in a boat isn’t funny enough (should have been like What About Bob?). Susan and Ryan seem headed toward a heart-to-heart conversation that never arrives, and many other moments feel torn between evoking laughter or tears.
• Frank’s daughter is sadly underutilized (compare the parent / daughter relationships in Definitely Maybe or No Reservations). This film’s final, heart-tugging moment doesn’t feel earned.

Conclusion

Chaos Theory is borderline passable as a rental, but is only held together by acting by Reynolds and Mortimer — and if you want to see either in a better movie, Definitely Maybe (Reynolds) and Lars And The Real Girl (Mortimer) fit the bill respectively. I’d recommend either over this borderline comi-tragedy. Chaos Theory — skip it.

IMDB: Chaos Theory
Wikipedia: Chaos Theory
Rotten Tomatoes: Chaos Theory 29%