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Movie review: 'Chaos Theory'

Timing’s off, but in just the right way

By Michael Phillips

Tribune critic
April 10, 2008

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3 stars (out of four)

“Chaos Theory” shouldn’t work. The story, about a time-efficiency expert whose life goes kerflooey owing to a colossal misunderstanding, sets us up for farce but delivers increasingly bittersweet and improbable developments. In the bookend scenes Ryan Reynolds looks ridiculous in 50-something makeup, like Mickey Rourke in “Year of the Dragon.” And at least three of the picture’s chief virtues—its classy cinematography, unhurried sense of pacing and knack for extended takes—will mean little to the average Jane and Joe simply looking for a romantic comedy that doesn’t stink.

 And this: “Chaos Theory” worries less about making its characters lovable (they’re not) and more about making them intriguingly messed-up, which was also true of the previous romantic comedy starring Ryan Reynolds, “Definitely, Maybe.” I ended up liking both pictures. “Chaos Theory” kept me guessing, and sometimes a film’s tone plays guessing games with an audience as much as a film’s narrative.

 A borderline obsessive, Frank Allen (Reynolds) is the best-selling author of “The Five Minute Efficiency Trainer,”  whose wife (Emily Mortimer) and young daughter (Matreya Fedor)  have grown accustomed to his routinized ways. Then, owing to wife Susan setting a telltale clock back 10 minutes instead of forward, the time master’s schedule is suddenly out of joint. Frank misses his ferry, shows up late for a time-management seminar and ends up putting himself in an uncompromising position after a few drinks with a hotsy-totsy convention attendee (Sarah Chalke from “Scrubs,” who is tart and funny and who has been doing her crunches for sure).

That’d be enough for most situation-minded comedies. But Frank ends up taking a pregnant woman to the hospital, signing some form identifying him as the father ... and then comes a whopper of a revelation, having to do with things at home not being what Frank thought them to be.

The performances and Marcos Siega’s direction put a pleasing sheen on the material. It’s all framed as a cautionary tale told by the 50ish Frank, to the young man (he looks roughly 11) about to marry his grown-up daughter, about love and trust and commitment. Reynolds appears to be growing more subtle and comfortable as a romantic leading man. He’s amusing, which helps, and his smugness has a self-deprecating quality that keeps us from checking out on his character’s predicament. It’s a pretty serious predicament. And “Chaos Theory” lays out the predicament in peculiar and interesting ways.

mjphillips@tribune.com