Released: April 11th, 2008
Starring: Ryan Reynolds, Emily Mortimer, Stuart Townsend, Sarah Chalke, Elizabeth Harnois
Writer/Director: Daniel Taplitz/Marcos Siega
Description: The story of an obsessively organized efficiency expert whose life unravels in unexpected ways when fate forces him to explore the serendipitous nature of love and forgiveness.
[Review may contain spoilers. Please watch movie before reading, unless you don't care. Most of these films have already been released for a while, so they should be readily available.]
***
No matter how you try to dress it up, a rom-com is still a rom-com. You can give it an interesting twist, or an unlikely story or just your standard "chick-flick" (god, I hate using that term) fare. They can be dark, light, or sappy, but they will always be a rom-com.
"Chaos Theory" leaned more toward the dark side of the genre. The story was a bit more depressing than normal romantic comedies. You're basic love triangle is here, but it's not your typical triangle because there's no vieing for the woman's attention in the story. Even the few moments where it comes up, it is immediately dismissed. No, this triangle involves who's the biological father of the 7-year-old girl, and at no point does this present a serious conflict.
Corporate speaker, Frank Allen (Reynolds), is meticulous in everything he does; he makes list and begins each day with a wish. One morning, his wife, Susan (Mortimer) decides to help him by changing the time on the kitchen clock to give him more time, but she mistakenly sets it forward which makes him late. This moment sparks a downturn in Frank's life, and he realizes that everything he has done in his life has not prepared him for the chaos that is about to come.
The funny set pieces are all there: A women picks up the phone in his hotel room when his wife calls, a hospital mistakes him for the father of an abandoned baby, and no matter what he does, no one believes him. But the twist of the film occurs right after this and it's was very well done. Frank is pressured to take a DNA test to prove that he is not the father of the stranger's baby, but finds out that he is sterile and is not the father of any baby, including his daughter, Jessica. This is when the movie goes into self discovery/destruction section of the narrative.
Rom-coms depend heavily on their writing, and "Chaos Theory" suffers from a mediocre script. One of the advantages of having the subtitles on is that you get to read the words and see how generic the lines are. This movie is greatly enhanced by its actors, and their performances, than it was by how compelling the words were on the page. In a genre that relies so much on it's story, a weak script can be the death of the film.
Reynolds plays his familiar character, Ryan Reynolds. If you blindfolded me and made me listen to a generic, non-catch phrase line from any of his movies, I don't know if I'd be able to tell you what character he's portraying. Don't get me wrong, he a good actor, but he has a tendency to use the same expressions and vocal changes in every movie.
The more I watch Emily Mortimer, the higher she moves up my favorite actresses list. She is effortless in every role, and makes me care about her character, which is exactly what a performer needs to do. She's also one of those women that becomes prettier the longer she is on screen. She has a very natural beauty that tricks your brain into thinking she's real and not a character being portrayed by an actress. Underrated might by too nice of a way to describe how overlooked she is in Hollywood.
"Chaos Theory" is a rom-com that tries so hard to not be a rom-com, but becomes the most rom-comiest, rom-com I've seen in this project. It tries to be dark with the paternity storyline, but they take the conflict out of it by making conception occur before Frank and Susan were together. There's only one dramatic fight between opposite sexes in the movie, and it's the most white washed thing in the film. I wouldn't be surprised if the movie was noted to death by producers who couldn't agree on what direction the film should take.
Rating: 5/10 -- Average at best, but worth viewing if you are a fan of Reynolds, Mortimer, or you are female. Best part of the movie for me was the surprise cameo from one of my underrated hotties, Elizabeth Harnois, who played the couple's grown-up daughter.
"Chaos Theory" leaned more toward the dark side of the genre. The story was a bit more depressing than normal romantic comedies. You're basic love triangle is here, but it's not your typical triangle because there's no vieing for the woman's attention in the story. Even the few moments where it comes up, it is immediately dismissed. No, this triangle involves who's the biological father of the 7-year-old girl, and at no point does this present a serious conflict.
Corporate speaker, Frank Allen (Reynolds), is meticulous in everything he does; he makes list and begins each day with a wish. One morning, his wife, Susan (Mortimer) decides to help him by changing the time on the kitchen clock to give him more time, but she mistakenly sets it forward which makes him late. This moment sparks a downturn in Frank's life, and he realizes that everything he has done in his life has not prepared him for the chaos that is about to come.
The funny set pieces are all there: A women picks up the phone in his hotel room when his wife calls, a hospital mistakes him for the father of an abandoned baby, and no matter what he does, no one believes him. But the twist of the film occurs right after this and it's was very well done. Frank is pressured to take a DNA test to prove that he is not the father of the stranger's baby, but finds out that he is sterile and is not the father of any baby, including his daughter, Jessica. This is when the movie goes into self discovery/destruction section of the narrative.
Rom-coms depend heavily on their writing, and "Chaos Theory" suffers from a mediocre script. One of the advantages of having the subtitles on is that you get to read the words and see how generic the lines are. This movie is greatly enhanced by its actors, and their performances, than it was by how compelling the words were on the page. In a genre that relies so much on it's story, a weak script can be the death of the film.
Reynolds plays his familiar character, Ryan Reynolds. If you blindfolded me and made me listen to a generic, non-catch phrase line from any of his movies, I don't know if I'd be able to tell you what character he's portraying. Don't get me wrong, he a good actor, but he has a tendency to use the same expressions and vocal changes in every movie.
The more I watch Emily Mortimer, the higher she moves up my favorite actresses list. She is effortless in every role, and makes me care about her character, which is exactly what a performer needs to do. She's also one of those women that becomes prettier the longer she is on screen. She has a very natural beauty that tricks your brain into thinking she's real and not a character being portrayed by an actress. Underrated might by too nice of a way to describe how overlooked she is in Hollywood.
"Chaos Theory" is a rom-com that tries so hard to not be a rom-com, but becomes the most rom-comiest, rom-com I've seen in this project. It tries to be dark with the paternity storyline, but they take the conflict out of it by making conception occur before Frank and Susan were together. There's only one dramatic fight between opposite sexes in the movie, and it's the most white washed thing in the film. I wouldn't be surprised if the movie was noted to death by producers who couldn't agree on what direction the film should take.
Rating: 5/10 -- Average at best, but worth viewing if you are a fan of Reynolds, Mortimer, or you are female. Best part of the movie for me was the surprise cameo from one of my underrated hotties, Elizabeth Harnois, who played the couple's grown-up daughter.
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