User Reviews

Chaos Theory is an extremely well done film. It is a serious, emotional and at times humorous look at life and love that is incredibly honest and centers around equally honest and real characters. With the feel of a good indie flick and a strong leading man, Chaos Theory is one of those rare, genuine explorations of the human condition.

Frank Allen (Ryan Reynolds), an obsessively organized efficiency expert and top-selling author, has spent his entire life planning out every little detail and following the lists and schedules he makes for himself. He clings to controlling everything because it brings order, which gives him a sense of comfort and peace of mind.

One day, Frank's wife Susan (Emily Mortimer) sets the clocks forward ten minutes to help him be early for his schedule but accidentally sets them back ten minutes instead, making him late for his lecture on efficiency and setting off a chain of events that sends Frank's life spiraling. Through a course of seemingly random events, he learns some new information that, in effect, reveals to him that much of what he believed about his life is based on false information.

Not knowing how to deal with the revelation, Franks throws everything he's ever believed about order and efficiency out the window and starts living life on whim and chance. As he lets chaos overtake his life, he struggles to deal with the new truth that defines his life and forgive those involved.

The movie has its share of funny parts, but it really shines in its dramatic moments - when it's serious and honest. It effectively deals with things like relationships, truth, friendship and forgiveness, and it all feels true to how real people would react. As Frank and Susan try to deal with the new information, they begin to reassess their marriage and Frank questions what he's believed in for so long. His downward spiral into chaos is both interesting and realistic as well; none of it rings false. As you watch it all transpire on the screen, you're able to understand and relate to many of the emotions that Frank is struggling with.

Much of this success comes from the performance of Ryan Reynolds, an actor best known for comedic roles in movies like Waiting… and Van Wilder, but who has an intensity and seriousness about him that translates powerfully to other types of roles. This is evident in Definitely, Maybe as well as Chaos Theory, and the latter is quite a departure from the comedy work he has done previously – one he excels in and should do more often.

One scene where his talent and intensity really comes through is when Frank pulls over onto the side of the road just after he discovers the life-altering news. As he sits on the curb trying desperately not to break down, choking back tears and vomit, his pain is clearly visible in both his eyes and in his physical anguish, and it exudes off the screen. The strength of Reynolds' performance really heightens this scene, as well as the whole movie, and makes the character and his feelings relatable and evocative for the viewer. Reynolds easily carries the movie, which is even better off because of it.

Chaos Theory is an extremely honest, sometimes sad, always emotional and very real exploration of how a person deals with a drastic change in their life. With a strong and atypical performance from Ryan Reynolds, and enough humor, hope and insight to keep it from being depressing, Chaos Theory is definitely one of the more intelligent films of 2008 and shouldn't be missed.

As much as I enjoy the romantic comedy in all its formulaic glory, I was hoping to enjoy "Chaos Theory". I felt that Ryan Reynolds was custom made to play the part of neurotic public speaker Frank Allen as he conveys the emotion and general likeness that the character possesses. The sad news is that this low-budgeted obscure romantic comedy is an illogical and incoherent mess.

Everyone may look at this movie in different ways and your opinions whether you agree or disagree with me will be respected no matter what, but I just don't see how anyone would give this movie a perfect ten or let alone an eight star rating. The acting which was the least worst thing about this movie only can rendered as average to say the least. The movie's plot seems very disorganized and unsettling throughout and the conflicts within the characters lack in anything considered logical. It also can't decide on a specific genre leaving us scratching our heads in utter confusion. What is the genre? Is it a comedy? Is it a drama? I could never come up with what it's intended to be.

To be blunt, this is not Ryan Reynolds' defining moments in his cinematic career and maybe you might like the movie if you can not think the notion about how this movie is just one big of time.

The opening scenes kick off in a tasteless perspective as a group of chums are talking about retarded nonsense like giving names to their genitals. But the worst part of it all is they all have given them names. Talk about insulting one's intelligence. While at a New Year's Eve party, A woman named Susan (Emily Mortimer) has a resolution to find someone to love and to marry and of course we all know her intentions are to marry Frank (thanks to the traditional usage of sound reasoning you only find in movies) which makes this gimmick both overdone and stale.

Several years later, Frank's life take a turn in a new and very disappointing turn as he arrives late to get on the ferry. How aquatic transportation operates is above my head, but it's stupid that the guy who rides the ferry would not let Frank on. There was no reason for that. It was no like they were other people in back of Frank and they didn't raise the ramps yet so there was no reason for depriving Frank from getting on the ferry. Plus he would have to wait another hour before getting on the next one. There was no excuse to let one more person aboard the ferry. Sure it's a minor quip but the whole script felt like it was written by a high school student working on a class project. It was that amateur.

The movie just runs under the ninety minute mark which is fine for a low-budget romantic comedy, but there are two very distracting subplots that upstage the main plot of the story that goes on for way too long. When Frank drives a pregnant lady (Jocelyne Loewen) to the hospital we are enlightened to over three minutes of him telling her to breathe. And then there's the convoluted subplot where we discover that the daughter he thought was biologically his was really not because he's got Klinefelter's syndrome. In laymen's terms he's sterile. And to top that all off we see our principal character on a melancholy stroll to the lake where he bawls in tears which goes on for another three more minutes. Please stop the torture.

In addition Frank is vexed that Susan tweaked his alarm clock ten minutes late tarnishing his punctual reputation which leads him to succumb to withdrawn activities like drinking and chasing after an attractive young blond (Sarah Chalke) and almost succeeded in getting in bed with her. Here we see another plot hole as to why would a devoted father want to commit an act of promiscuity with another woman as to wound his psychological wounds? Let alone have his friend Buddy (Stuart Townsend) there (who seems to arbitrarily act flirty towards his wife), but it's all null and void because in the end, he never nails her anyways so what's the point? All it sums up to is one pointless cliché that served no purpose to the story.

Another deterring scene that made my blood boil was when the nurse who delivered the pregnant lady's baby seemed to mysteriously know Frank and Susan's phone number and when she tried to call Frank to tell her the news he was not available at the time. The nurse as professional as can be, thought Frank was the father and that's when all hell broke loose. She now thinks he's living a double life behind her back and she kicks him to the curb. If he's sterile and can't have kids then who's the biological father to Jesse? Anyhow, Buddy tries to persuade Susan that Frank loves her and is an honest one-woman man. His dialogue provided was weak and very stone-faced. Up until then, his character was drier then a two week old prune. And how did the pregnant woman know where where Frank lived when she left the hospital. Baffling!

Another illogical scenario is that a week before her marriage to Frank, she slept with Buddy and when Frank points that out, she made the excuse that it was done after he promised to faithful to her. We also see at the beginning how the groom is having second thoughts in marrying his fiancé because during a temporary break-up she made romance to another guy. Then his friend has the audacity to say that it's normal and that he's lucky to have her. Seriously? This guy needs better friends and an honest lady or just stay a single for life. This movie is frustrating.

Frank Allen (Ryan Reynolds), a motivational speaker/writer specialising in the essential meaning of time in work and life, is privy to having a successful little family. Given that his wife basically decided on Frank based on the fact he had the most intriguing name for his penis (Emily Mortimer), this is quite a freakish accomplishment in itself. They have a beautiful 7-year-old girl Jesse, who is the crown jewel of Frank's life. That is until a series of chance events have him discover that he has been sterile since birth. The revelation casts into chaos not only his marriage, but also his well-organised way of life.

Ryan Reynolds seems to do miles better, when drafted into roles that are more down-to-earth quirky personas. Despite his apparent fandom his attempts at stardom in comiccy roles severely hurt his acting creds, as despite whatever some people in casting believe his comedic timing for one-liners is not good. However Reynolds has a depth in emotion for a comedian, that places him above most other competitors. And that's why Reynolds is a tour-de-force in this romantic comedy with a strong dramatic touch. At least for 2/3 of the movie his performance is captivating and convincing. Coupled with some really fun scenes and relatively inventive ideas behind the script for the most part the movie comes off as a real gem.

That is until the final third. Unfortunately for the movie the scriptwriters chickened out of keeping the situation morally ambiguous - and hence realistic. Instead they decide to keep it safe, when it turns out that Jesse was conceived a couple of days before they were even dating... Despite this feedback Frank is still committed to killing the real father and his best friend... which basically doesn't make sense. The whole script quickly unravels, when the whole plot gets ridiculed in order to keep it 'civil' and by the last couple of scenes interest in the resolution fizzles out. The movie drops any pretence of having some real dramatic message to convey and resorts back to more or less senseless ha-ha's with your obligatory happy-ending.

Very much a shame, but on the plus side I really enjoyed the performances in the movie and would really prefer to see much more of Reynolds in this type of role and less as Barakapool or Green Panties.

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

Firstly the acting is pretty good and the start of the film is ok, but this film falls into the same old trap where the man has to accept, learn and grow whilst the female seems to get away scot free after some pretty outrageous behaviour.

Susan learns that Frank has made another person pregnant. She doesn't bother to listen to what he has to say and throws him out and refuses to take his calls. Allowing him to see his daughter is seen as having strong morals ( as apparently cheating disqualifies you as a parent - although I am sure this would only be for one gender).

During the film she finds out he is innocent, and apparently expects him to take her calls and come back as normal. In the meantime Frank finds out he cant have children and as such his daughter isn't his.

In the end Frank accepts that life does have challenges and we have to accept them, but I dont know why that would be mean he should accept and trust a partner who wouldn't do the same for him.

The whole movie is about how she keeps the truth from him, from the fact that the child may not be his to who the biological father is.

I am unsure if his daughter finds out to but I guess it doesnt seem to matter.

A happily married man, who has a kid, runs into a helpless woman, in the street, whose about to have a baby, gets her by his car to a hospital, after the delivery there is a misunderstanding about her baby being his son, so he gets into analyzing the DNA, to uncover later that he's not the father, AND not any father of any kid, since he's natural born sterile. After a while, he knows the ugly truth; his wife cheated on him once, with their best friend, whose the real father. OK, did I hear all of this story before? No. I heard it and watched it too!

All of the above is in an Egyptian movie named (El Galssa El Seriya) or (The Closed Session) produced in (1986), starring all star cast; (Mahmoud Yassine) as the husband, (Youssra) as the wife, (Shahira) as the pregnant woman, and (Samir Sabri) as the friend, written by (Nabel Esmat), and directed by (Mohamed Abdel Aziz). The thing is while the old one has gone purely melodramatic, with a climax at a Closed Session, (Chaos Theory) went on as some kind of a romantic comedy, with a case of someone rediscovers the world, its facts and systems, along with himself. Yet the resemblance, especially concerning the way how he knew about his barrenness, is striking!

Anyway, (Chaos Theory) is a good movie. (Ryan Reynolds) did very well, unlike himself in other movies. The matter of the lists is funny. The last monologue about "love as the least random thing in the world" proved itself as the movie's best experience. However, it has a good deal of problems as well.

First of all, the characters speak in a way higher than their cultures sometimes (some of the wife's talk to the real father, the blond girl's criticism of the lead's short sex with her; that was so Roger Ebert-ish I must say!). Then, bugging points like how the lead calls his male organ "The Truth"???? What on earth is that?! If it was meant as a comedic thing; then it's bad. And as a serious thing; it's worse! So how about winning the heart of the girl by it?! The story is a bit predictable, and not due to seeing the Egyptian movie first. At least, I knew very much that the lead wouldn't die since I saw him attending his daughter's wedding at first. Which leads us the movie's top problem; that so unnecessary intro. It spoiled the whole thing, being such a cheap excuse for making the speech of "The less random.."!

It has its moments, being a good chance to showcase the true talents of some young actors who Hollywood mostly exploits, not deals with fully respectfully, caring - in most cases - for the nude scenes more than the one where the character wakes up to write a wish with his kid on the steamy glass while dawn.

Still, I can't stop asking; this striking resemblance; is it a coincidence? A telepathy?? Or undeclared remake??!!

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.