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.
The Taylor family is devastated by an accident that takes place on the day their matriarch is due to graduate from college -- decades after leaving to raise her children.
Kevin, Sam and Rob are founding members of a theoretical group which pulls off heists. Leo, a gangster, blackmails them into pulling off a real multi-million dollar heist. Now it's up to them to get out alive.
While visiting his hometown during Christmas, a man comes face-to-face with his old high school crush whom he was best friends with -- a woman whose rejection of him turned him into a ferocious womanizer.
Dave is a married man with three kids and a loving wife, and Mitch is a single man who is at the prime of his sexual life. One fateful night while Mitch and Dave are peeing in a fountain, lightning strikes and they switch bodies.
Paul is a U.S. truck driver working in Iraq. After an attack by a group of Iraqis he wakes to find he is buried alive inside a coffin. With only a lighter and a cell phone it's a race against time to escape this claustrophobic death trap.
Director:
Rodrigo Cortés
Stars:
Ryan Reynolds,
José Luis García Pérez,
Robert Paterson
At his daughter's wedding, time-management specialist Frank Allen corners the reluctant groom and tells him a long story: about the night his wife chose him, and then, about eight years later, when a missed ferry, a corporate groupie, a panicked expectant mother, and a medical test brought Frank's marriage to a crisis. In the midst of the crisis were Frank, his wife Susan, their daughter Jesse, and Frank's best friend, the feckless Buddy. Things come to a head at a lake when Frank, armed with a shotgun, decides to cross something permanently from one of his time-management lists. Is there ever room for whim and chaos? Written by
<jhailey@hotmail.com>
Ryan Reynolds plays Elisabeth Harnois's father despite being less than three years older than her (945 days to be specific). Emily Mortimer, who plays Elisabeth Harnois's mother, is less than eight years older than her in real life. See more »
Goofs
The length of Frank's cigarette changes in his scene with Buddy in the motel room. See more »
Quotes
[first lines]
Jesse Allen:
[to Maid of Honor, while wearing wedding dress]
Give it to me straight: virginal bride or slut in white?
See more »
Golden Days
Written by Alex Dezen
Performed by The Damnwells
Courtesy of Zoe/Rounder Records
Under license from Sony BMG Music Entertainment See more »
Spontaneity is not a highly esteemed commodity in Frank Allen's catalogue of virtues. An efficiency trainer by avocation, Frank is a man whose own life is organized entirely around to-do lists, time charts and abstrusely calculated probabilities. Then, one day Frank becomes a victim of circumstances so utterly beyond his control that he is forced to abandon his old way of thinking and adopt a new philosophy of life altogether, that of throwing caution to the wind and letting his every mercurial whim determine the course of his actions (he shuffles index cards to determine what it is he should do next).
"Chaos Theory," a small but insightful movie written by Daniel Taplitz and directed by Marcos Siega, boasts a cleverly addled storyline, some sharp, witty dialogue and energetic performances by Reynolds, Emily Mortimer and Stuart Townsend, the latter two as Frank's wife and best friend, respectively. The plot complications get pretty hot and heavy at times but, as with all good comedy, things have a way of straightening themselves out in the end.
Though there may be a few too many musical montage sequences in the movie for my taste - they always seem to be used as shortcuts to get the heart soaring or the tear ducts flowing - the movie has a fluidity and charm that raise it above any possible shortcomings. Moreover, the Pacific Northwest setting provides a scenic backdrop for all the amusing shenanigans taking place on center stage.
15 of 18 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful to you?
Spontaneity is not a highly esteemed commodity in Frank Allen's catalogue of virtues. An efficiency trainer by avocation, Frank is a man whose own life is organized entirely around to-do lists, time charts and abstrusely calculated probabilities. Then, one day Frank becomes a victim of circumstances so utterly beyond his control that he is forced to abandon his old way of thinking and adopt a new philosophy of life altogether, that of throwing caution to the wind and letting his every mercurial whim determine the course of his actions (he shuffles index cards to determine what it is he should do next).
"Chaos Theory," a small but insightful movie written by Daniel Taplitz and directed by Marcos Siega, boasts a cleverly addled storyline, some sharp, witty dialogue and energetic performances by Reynolds, Emily Mortimer and Stuart Townsend, the latter two as Frank's wife and best friend, respectively. The plot complications get pretty hot and heavy at times but, as with all good comedy, things have a way of straightening themselves out in the end.
Though there may be a few too many musical montage sequences in the movie for my taste - they always seem to be used as shortcuts to get the heart soaring or the tear ducts flowing - the movie has a fluidity and charm that raise it above any possible shortcomings. Moreover, the Pacific Northwest setting provides a scenic backdrop for all the amusing shenanigans taking place on center stage.