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Chaos Theory
Warner Bros. Pictures
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MPAA RATING: PG-13 for mature thematic material, sexual content and language
Starring
Ryan Reynolds,
Emily Mortimer,
Stuart Townsend,
and
Milo Ventimiglia
Frank Allen, celebrated author of the bestseller The Five Minute Efficiency Trainer, has perfected the art of living via a foolproof system of timetables and index cards. In fact, his daily “to do” lists are legendary. A man known for playing it safe, Frank doesn’t believe in spontaneity. Every choice he makes is deliberate––designed to contribute to a well-ordered, predictable life. But life, as he soon learns, never adheres to a strict schedule. Frank is about to discover that not even an efficiency expert armed with timetables and index cards can change the serendipitous nature of family and friendship, love and forgiveness. (Warner Bros.)
| GENRE(S): |
Comedy
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Crime
|
Romance
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| WRITTEN BY: |
Daniel Taplitz
|
| DIRECTED BY: |
Marcos Siega
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| RELEASE DATE: |
DVD: June 10, 2008
Theatrical: April 11, 2008
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| RUNNING TIME: |
86 minutes, Color |
| ORIGIN: |
USA |
All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...
75
Chicago Tribune
Michael Phillips
The performances and Marcos Siega’s direction put a pleasing sheen on the material.
75
San Francisco Chronicle
Ruthe Stein
By creating likable characters and putting them in situations that seem plausible, if a bit of a stretch, the film succeeds where others of its genre fail.
63
Boston Globe
Ty Burr
"Maybe" was watchable and blandly pleasant; "Theory" is a smidgen better than that, if not the cruelly funny farce the movie's best impulses and its own trailer would have you believe.
63
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)
Liam Lacey
When you watch Canadian actor Ryan Reynolds, there's often a sense that you're not just watching him perform in a movie, you're watching the next stage of his unfolding career plan.
60
Variety
Dennis Harvey
The lead performers, the brighter fillips in Daniel Taplitz’s screenplay and Marcos Siega’s (“Pretty Persuasion”) assured direction make this a pleasing item overall.
50
Village Voice
Nick Pinkerton
Reynolds, called to 180 from anal nebbish to feral beast, is beautifully committed, but he gets no help on the other side of the camera.
50
The Hollywood Reporter
Michael Rechtshaffen
The picture continuously shuffles moods like tunes on an iPod without ever making any lasting commitments.
50
TV Guide
Ken Fox
Atonal romantic comedy.
50
Los Angeles Times
Mark Olsen
Not exactly bad, but it disappointingly never really discovers the movie that it wants to be.
50
Seattle Post-Intelligencer
Sean Axmaker
With a title like Chaos Theory, one might expect a little runaway energy or a dash of wild spirit under the antics, but there's little punchy anarchy in this controlled experiment.
50
Chicago Reader
Andrea Gronvall
The comic scenes can be arch or shrill, but director Marcos Siega (Pretty Persuasion) does better when the story turns somber and the emotions feel genuine.
50
Entertainment Weekly
Gregory Kirschling
Peddles the usual carpe diem movie bunk.
42
The Onion (A.V. Club)
Scott Tobias
The big reason Chaos Theory doesn't work is that the gears are visibly grinding away, cranking out neat little ironies and life lessons without any liberating surprises.
40
The New York Times
Laura Kern
A predictable romantic dramedy that isn’t particularly tender, moving or amusing, Chaos Theory suffers first and foremost from featuring the least engaging couple to headline a movie in some time.
40
New York Daily News
Elizabeth Weitzman
The kind of movie designed more for a has-been than a potential leading man, this slapdash dramatic comedy fits the now-established pattern perfectly: Your (Ryan Reynolds) committed performance is the sole reason to see it.
38
ReelViews
James Berardinelli
Chaos Theory stumbles from one contrived circumstance to the next, and there's not a moment in this entire mess that conveys any sort of genuine human emotion or reaction.
30
Washington Post
Desson Thomson
In Chaos Theory, Reynolds's performance is taut, crabby and tense. And his beard and glasses, which intensify those already narrow eyes, suggest a mad bomb-builder rather than a hapless soul with whom we can identify.
25
New York Post
Kyle Smith
The audience, if any, for Chaos Theory is going to be hit with a little puff of celluloid flatulence. The movie won't linger in the air, but that doesn't make it any less embarrassing.
 The average user rating for this movie is 6.0 (out of 10) based on 3 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.
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