Chaos Theory

Chaos Theory (2008) is a bittersweet comedy starring Ryan Reynolds, and you can watch it online on iFILM. Frank Allen lectures on time management and plans every minute of his own life with military precision.

Then his wife sets his alarm clock ten minutes fast as a joke, and the whole rigid schedule comes apart. Fed up that all his discipline has bought him so little, Frank flips his approach: he scribbles options onto index cards and lets a random draw decide what he does next. Surrendering to chance, he stumbles onto a truth about his family that knocks the floor out from under him and nearly pushes him over the edge. Emily Mortimer and Stuart Townsend round out the cast.

Director Marcos Siega takes a light premise and pulls a surprisingly raw story out of it, all about the control we only imagine we have. Reynolds dials back the wisecracks to play a man watching his certainties collapse, and that restraint is the film's best move. Good for anyone who likes a comedy that suddenly hits hard. Stream Chaos Theory (2008) online on iFILM.