West Hollywood.

It was half past six in the afternoon, and Peter Butler had dinner with his girlfriend Peggy after work, and the two hurried to the theater near the apartment.

Despite already having a good personal relationship, Peter Butler still hasn't been able to learn the official content of "The Butterfly Effect". As a result, he rarely left work on time today and couldn't wait to catch a look.

Peter's girlfriend, Peggy, is a tall, lanky Caucasian girl with eyes and a polite appearance.

The two sat down in the theater, and Peggy couldn't help but say, "Peter, it is said that the critics have not commented very well on "The Butterfly Effect", do we have to watch this movie?"

Due to the poor feedback from critics for the initial test screening, Fox had been careful to hide the test screening of "The Butterfly Effect" and did not hold a public screening before the opening of the film.

Therefore, until yesterday, the reputation of "The Butterfly Effect" was only circulated among a small number of people within Hollywood. But now, the first batch of film reviews about "The Butterfly Effect" in the evening newspaper in the afternoon have been released, and the media response to the film is naturally difficult to hide.

As a journalist, Peter Butler naturally learned about this earlier, but he still trusted his own judgment more.

Glancing at the audience in the hall that was growing as the showtime approached, Peter Butler replied, "Peggy, don't you really like 'Lola Run'? Simon's movie shouldn't disappoint everyone too much." ”

Peggy, who is the same age as Peter, is 31 years old this year and works as a designer at an advertising agency.

Although she appreciated Simon's previous "Lola Run", she has always been a very sensible girl, and she has passed the age of chasing stars, and Simon Westeros is not as sought after by many young people as many young people.

However, considering the relationship between her boyfriend and the other party, Peggy didn't speak too viciously, just shrugged her shoulders and said, "Maybe." ”

After waiting patiently for a few minutes, the lights dimmed in the screening room.

Peter Butler looked around again, and the occupancy rate in the 100-seat screening room had exceeded 70%, which was a very good figure. Obviously, with the popularity of "Lola Run", the box office of "Butterfly Effect" will not be too bad in the first weekend, and the key is to see the subsequent box office trend of the film.

During this time, "Lola Run" was an unexpected success, Simon Westeros naturally became famous, and Peter Butler also attracted a lot of attention within the Los Angeles Times because of a series of interviews with Simon.

As the largest newspaper in the western United States, the Los Angeles Times has a large team of more than 1,100 editors and reporters. It is definitely not easy for a young journalist in his early thirties like Peter Butler to attract the attention of the upper echelons.

Correspondingly, Peter Butler unconsciously leans towards Simon in his personal position. Subconsciously, Peter Butler has even made a decision that as long as the film is not too miserable, he will definitely help Simon with a few good words.

on the big screen.

After a routine roll roll and label opening, Matt Dillon's male protagonist, Ivan, cautiously walks through a darkened corridor and breaks into an office. Then, amid the violent banging of the door between the security guards and the doctors, Ivan, who was hiding under his desk, quickly wrote down a string of last words in his notebook and began to play a videotape.

In the violent shaking of the picture, the camera has returned to Ivan's childhood.

In the screening room, looking at the childhood shots of the male protagonist that have turned to warm colors, Peter Butler is still recalling the opening wedge just now.

Very brilliant suspense building, just for this, Brian de Palma has managed to attract the curiosity and attention of the audience. In the next 20 minutes, Ivan's strange childhood behaviors appear on the big screen one by one, continuing to arouse the audience's curiosity. And so on until Ivan became an adult, and the mystery began to be revealed.

East Coast.

New Haven, Connecticut.

It's nearly ten o'clock and she will officially graduate from Yale next month, and Jennifer Raybould has been getting busier and busier lately, not finding time to watch Simon's new movie with her friend Lisa Collins until eight o'clock in the evening.

At this time, as the flow of people walked out of the theater together, the two girls looked at each other a little, and they didn't know how to evaluate the "Butterfly Effect" just now.

Is it a good movie?

Compared with "Lola Run", which is amazing in all aspects such as the plot, shots, and soundtrack, "The Butterfly Effect" really doesn't have much to comment on except for the idea of repeatedly traveling back to the past.

Is this a bad movie?

The plot of the film is very complete, and it is cleverly interspersed and interlocking. Compared with those really bad movies that make it difficult to remember the plot after watching it, many details in this movie are worth recalling.

In simple terms.

As two veteran movie fans who frequent movie theaters, it was difficult for Jennifer and Lisa to get anything out of the film to impress them. And, in all fairness, they don't really like the despair expressed in this movie.

Maybe.

It's just a random script written by that guy, and his next directing work is definitely worth looking forward to.

As Jennifer was thinking this, a voice suddenly came from her side, which was obviously deliberately raised: "This movie is so cool, even more exciting than "Lola Run", I think we should take the time to watch it again." ”

Following the voice, Jennifer turned her head to look, and she and Lisa were followed by three young boys of seventeen or eighteen.

The three boys' eyes lit up when they saw Jennifer turn their heads, and then the other two boys followed suit, and they also quickened their pace together to catch up with Jennifer and Lisa.

If it were a normal day, Jennifer would have been completely dismissive of such a botched pick-up. But this time, she took the initiative to look at the boy who had just spoken, and asked, "Do you really think "Butterfly Effect" is cooler than "Lola Run"?"

"Of course, isn't the idea of relying on a diary to go back in time cool enough?" the boy said without hesitation: "What's more, there is also the butterfly effect, compared to the details in "Lola Run", which can change a life in an instant, this is the real butterfly effect." And, in the end, he returned to his mother's womb and strangled himself with his own hands, tsk, Simon Westeros is such a genius. ”

Listening to the boy next to her dancing excitedly, Jennifer felt as if something had flashed through her mind, but she couldn't catch it. Lisa, who was holding her arm, had a little more understanding on her face.

Saying this, I have walked out of the theater before I know it.

The three boys saw that Jennifer and the two were about to leave, and they caught up again, and the boy just took the initiative to invite: "Hey, girls, how about going to the bar together, we know that there is a bar nearby that doesn't check age." ”

Before Jennifer could reply, Lisa had already said to the three boys with some teasingness: "Forget it, little ones, we are not interested in dating minors." ”

After smiling and shaking off the three boys, Lisa pulled Jennifer to the parking lot quickly.

After finding their car, the two girls got into the car, and after Lisa, who was in charge of driving, started the car, she suddenly reached out and gently grabbed Jennifer's beautiful golden ponytail, still smiling, and said, "Let you pierce this all day long, and be treated as a little girl." ”

Jennifer shook her hair, reached out and hit Lisa, and said, "You drive quickly, I'm a little sleepy." ”

Lisa drove the car out of the parking lot with the steering wheel, and seeing that Jennifer still looked thoughtful, she said, "You're not thinking about Westeros, are you?"

Jennifer's face suddenly turned a little red, but she immediately retorted: "It's you who want to, right, you worship him so much." ”

Lisa was not as shy as Jennifer, and said very bluntly: "Such a powerful guy, I just don't know when I will see you again." I'm not going to go to California, isn't your uncle his personal lawyer? And, if you can snatch Simon Westeros out of Janet Johnston, I'll fly to Los Angeles myself to help you with the celebration party. ”

Jennifer listened to Lisa's more outrageous words, blushing and reaching out: "What nonsense are you talking about." ”

Lisa opened her mouth, and a mouthful of neat white teeth bit down on the little hand that wanted to cover her mouth, scaring Jennifer away, before she smiled: "I'm just saying what is in your heart, come on, Jenny." ”

"I've decided not to talk to you again for the next ten minutes. ”

Lisa laughed, seeing that Jennifer really didn't pay attention to herself anymore and drove the car indifferently.

After a while, I glanced at my friend in the co-pilot again, and saw that there was still some worry on her face that was beginning to fade, and suddenly said: "There's no need to worry so much, I think this movie may just be for those hairy boys." ”

With the film's first day of release, film reviews of "The Butterfly Effect" also appeared on various media platforms on a large scale.

"After 'Lola Run', Simon Westeros once again used his brilliant imagination to construct a wonderful story for us that explores the countless possibilities of life. "The Butterfly Effect" made me realize that each of our lives is made up of countless bits and pieces in the long river of time, and you can't change it, you can't get rid of it, and you can't regret it. Real life is destined to have only one outcome. ”

This is a film review article published by Peter Butler in the Los Angeles Times the next day.

Although Peter Butler's perception of the film was similar to that of Jennifer's two daughters on the East Coast, Peter Butler wrote an unabashed expression of approval.

However, outside of Peter Butler, too many film critics in North America seem very unpolite, and even unabashedly express their dislike for "The Butterfly Effect".

"No one can save these boring repetitive fragments. - "Variety"

Matt Dillon, who has had great performances in films like "Edge of the River" and "The Outsider", chose this movie and was really one of the biggest mistakes of his life. - Entertainment Weekly

"With pessimistic themes, chaotic narratives, and boring characters, this is really one of the most boring movies in recent times. - "Cinema Salon"

Simon Westeros may have wanted to express some deeper philosophical reflections through The Butterfly Effect, but it turned out to be a boring film that didn't make any sense at all. —The New York Observer

“......”

“......”

In this series of bad reviews, Mark Hollington, a New York Times contributor who raised questions about Simon at the beginning, resurfaced and unceremoniously said, "'The Butterfly Effect' is a very stupid and pretentious messy film, and I can't understand what Simon Westeros wants to express with such a disgusting film."

After all, there are too many fortuitous factors in the success of "Lola Run", so the box office performance of "Butterfly Effect" is crucial to Simon's subsequent development in Hollywood.

Even, it was only Saturday, and in the face of the one-sided bad reviews of "The Butterfly Effect", Ronald Goldberg couldn't wait to call Simon, hoping to organize a production meeting for "The Grim Reaper", which he wanted to attend in person.

This is a clear violation of the agreement signed by the two sides.

Obvious.

If "The Butterfly Effect" fails at the box office in the end, the three projects that Simon is advancing will be very seriously affected.