The Butterfly Effect, Ashton Kutcher’s foray into drama, is a surprisingly exciting sci-fi movie filled with fascinating characters, all wrapped around a questionable story. It’s entertaining only when viewed with a leap of faith.

Evan (Kutcher) is a college student who’s had more childhood and teenage trauma than Drew Barrymore, most of which he can’t remember. Unexplainable blackouts plague Evan as a child, most occurring during moments that later turn childhood friends Kayleigh (Amy Smart), Tommy (William Lee Scott) and Lenny (Elden Henson) into disturbed adults. Evan’s doctor suggests he keep a journal to retrace his actions and help keep him sane.

Years later, Evan, now blackout-free, unearths his old journals. Upon reading them, he is transported to the exact moment of a childhood blackout (cue the flying logistical leap). Afterwards Evan visits Kayleigh for the first time in years and presses her about his old haunting memories. She gets so upset revisiting these torturous thoughts that she kills herself.

Overwhelmed with guilt, Evan believes he can go back to the past to alter the future for the better. With Kayleigh dead, Tommy in and out of jail and Lenny a recluse, this plan somehow seems logical.

The Butterfly Effect is not for plausibility sticklers. However, putting reason on the back burner for a couple hours lets things get much more interesting.

No matter how Evan chooses to fix the past, something in the future always goes awry, sending him back to his journals to try again. With each attempt, the future completely changes but never gets fully mended, causing him to spiral into increasingly chaotic situations.

A taste of the chilling future scenarios that follow: Evan nearly gets raped in prison, Kayleigh becomes a drug-addicted prostitute, Tommy’s a Jesus freak and Lenny is asylum-bound.

Henson, once the scary pre-pubescent hockey player of The Mighty Ducks, portrays amazingly varied incarnations of Lenny. Kutcher does quite well in his dramatic debut although he lets a few Kelso-isms shine through.

The real entertainment in The Butterfly Effect is waiting to see how differently each character plays out in the next scenario. Watching these four wounded children transform into their twisted adult selves may require considerable emotional investment and a willing suspension of disbelief.

Directors and screenwriters Eric Bress and J. Mackye Gruber (Final Destination 2) have crafted a compelling script along with rapidly paced shots and effects, keeping minds too busy to question the implausible plot.

Despite some of its lapses in logic, the film becomes a fascinating ride.