Chaos Theory

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Chaos Theory is a movie about Frank Allen (Ryan Reynolds) whose life is scheduled down to the minute details all written down on index cards. He wakes up one morning, and discovers his wife Susan (Emily Mortimer) sets his clock ten minutes behind, thus making him ten minutes late to work. Frank's job is lecturing on time management. This preempts a chain of events that leads to Frank getting into a car accident with a pregnant woman turning his world upside down into utter chaos. This causes Frank to question his safe, planned out life, and start living on a whim. I really wanted to enjoy this movie after hearing the positive reviews on IMDb, but unfortunately I did not. The premise to the movie was original, but really struggled to find a tone and charm. It is not quite a comedy, yet not quite a drama. While you could call it a "Dramedy" it appeared as though the director did not know exactly what direction to take it in. The beat of the movie was off in that the comedy was not quite on, and gained a chuckle most of the times at best. Often the comedy or comedic situations were over the top, but even if a movie is over the top in the comedy department, it should make you feel like you are part of that world, I did not feel this with this film. Times in which you should have really sympathized for the characters, there was this disconnection. The film never quite hit its mark. If you have seen any other Ryan Reynolds movies, Ryan Reynolds played Ryan Reynolds. Again, I feel this had to do with the tone of the film and the direction. Emily Mortimer's acting was believable in her role as Susan. Stuart Townshend as Buddy, the best friend to Frank, could have been better. Perhaps the biggest downfall was that I never felt any real connection between the three. There was something missing. Frank and wife Susan did not appear like they were in love as the film suggested, and Frank's relationship with Best Friend Buddy was weak. Overall this movie held my attention long enough to avoid me from turning it off. At under an hour and a half (87 Minutes), it felt like it dragged on for two hours. This film had potential, but ultimately was an unsatisfying film.

It was all mushy it made me want to vomit! IMDb promised me it would be funny, well I guess if you thought Juno (also barf) was funny then maybe you'll find this one funny but overall I give it BARF out of 10. Well I guess most comedy-drama movies are barf but this one was kind of extra-barf. Yeah it had a few funny parts but overall it was way too mushy, by the end I felt like I had walked through a pool of mush and it was all stuck to me and I couldn't get it off. And what happened to Ryan Reynolds anyway? Didn't he used to be the funny guy with the "I don't take anything seriously" attitude? He should take a clue from Adam Sandler and Jim Carrey that no one wants to see funny actors do mushy or serious movies. Oh well. If you like those kinds of movies (mushy, barf movies) then you'll probably like this one. I don't, and that's why this one left me feeling sick.

20 minutes in and I can't even stand to watch any more of this movie. I hate movies where something stupid happens and the other person's spouse/partner won't listen to them or let them explain anything. You sit there yelling at the TV for the person to "just spit it out already and tell the person the truth and what happened!" I can't even finish this movie!

The 'Chaos Theory' credits just started rolling here, actually having some pre-viewing excitement, the writers left me out in the cold. A vast array of smug movie 'experts' utilized the title to point out the movie's big flaw, namely a lack of straight-lined writing. Seeing that the script lacked the necessary hilarity to make it a pure comedy, I'd found it better if they'd stuck with a drama, and it could've been a great one too, that's the sucky part. Round the characters more, explore the potentially great plot lines and you've got a wonderful film script, well worth a watch. You can divide films I dislike into two categories: films that are simply of poor quality (have one very bad aspect or are bad or mediocre all around) or films that waste their potential. 'Chaos Theory' is the latter, I really liked the premise which is why I watched it in the first place: an over-organized guy, with a perfectly fine job, wife and daughter finds his life turned upside down from one day to the next. The situation so it seems, is out of his control. He has made the safe, smart, responsible decisions all his life yet he winds up in a really messy relationship problem, which convinces him to throw all of the principles he clung onto his whole life overboard. He lives, as a he calls it, a life of 'whim', 'chance' and 'passion'. Sounds good? Well, it did to me too...too bad it's only a 6/10

Jesse Allen (Elisabeth Harnois) is getting married but her groom Ed (Mike Erwin) has cold feet. He finds out that she was with somebody else when they broke up. Her father Frank (Ryan Reynolds) finds him sneaking out the back door and sits him down for a talk. He tells him about his life with his wife Susan (Emily Mortimer), womanizing best friend Buddy Endrow (Stuart Townsend) and Paula Crowe (Sarah Chalke). There is a slight comedic tone in the movie that is ill-fitting. The story struggles to get going. The characters are not that appealing. The misunderstanding is ridiculously stupid. It feels like a silly sitcom. When Frank goes crazy, the movie gets better. If only the movie can figure out how to get there without the silly setup.

Let's get my bias out of the way first. Ryan Reynolds can do no wrong. I think he's as close to a Cary Grant as we'll get ever again. His face, and the many expressions it can make, are perfect for both drama and comedy, and he seems perfectly willing to commit to both extremes. In fact, in this movie, he's able to turn the tone of the movie in an instant. Oh right, he's also incredibly attractive. Frank (Reynolds) is an efficiency expert whose day has been thrown off. The irony of being late to his own lecture on time management is not lost on him either. Through a serious of less than fortunate events, Frank manages to mount up enough circumstantial evidence of his committing adultery at least once, that his wife throws him out. The twist, when it comes, is not altogether unexpected, but the material is treated with a humanity that makes you happy to keep watching. In one scene, Frank is streaking across a hockey rink and in another, his and Susan's (Mortimer's) foreheads are touching, and their muted sobs are pulling at heartstrings no mere romantic comedy would ever be able to play. The sort of climax of the movie is quite superb. You see great dramedic acting, and a clever script to boot. No, not a clever script, but a sincere one. Its writing makes this movie more of a comedic romance than a romantic comedy. If you don't understand that distinction, you will after watching this movie.

A friend of mine had this crush on Ryan Reynolds, so without knowing what this movie was going to be like, (the back said something about being a hilarious and heartfelt COMEDY) I thought, it has Reynolds, so it will probably have it's moments. I thought wrong. Emily Mortemer gives one of the most uninspiring roles I have ever seen an actress play, the plot is cliché, and after about 20 or so minutes in, there is not even a hint of comedy to be found. On the other hand, a lack of comedy would not be a disappointment if there was some charm or drama to take it's place, but what is left is an uninspired, and just generally unassuming movie which becomes painful to sit through. The characters have no soul, the movie (titled CHAOS THEORY) is boring and predictable, and really fails at any hint of comedy. Reading some of the other reviews, it seems some other people enjoyed it. I was not one of them, and those are my two cents.