Chaos Theory

An efficiency expert (Ryan Reynolds) sees his carefully regimented life unravel when a series of random happenstances threatens his career and marriage (to fetching Emily Mortimer). Daniel Taplitz’s script gets off to a refreshingly unpredictable start—unpredictable, that is, yet with a one-damn-thing-after-another inevitability. The movie never becomes predictable, exactly, but it does seem to settle into a kind of formula, leading up to an ending that feels just a little too pat. Still, Reynolds and Mortimer are appealing in what is essentially a three-character play (Stuart Townsend as best friend is the third; there’s also an extended cameo by Sarah Chalke). Marcos Siega’s direction is perfunctory, but with a buoyancy that keeps the torments-of-Job aspect of the story from becoming a downer.