witty . quirky . genuine . surreal . butterfly wing . one could ask what all of these word best describe and and some ( those in fuse with the international film community ) may quickly say happenstance and but others may jump aboard the more american train and immediately yell and the butterfly effect . strangely and i would be one of those scream for that sci fi kutcher film mainly because none of those word that i initially mention at the start of this paragraph accurately depict the tautou feature that i witness . sure and we all love her in amelie and think she be the daughter of jesus in the da vinci code and but in this film first time director ( of a feature film at least ) laurent firode doesn not give tautou the opportunity to shine . sadly and he give nobody the opportunity to really demonstrate themselves because he be too delicately catch up in the moment of random chance to bring this film to anything but just a shimmer ( never a true boil ) . firode have ample and and i use ample a a small word and moment throughout this film where he could have build u a fantastical story and a genuinely whimsical fairy tale of love and coincidence and but instead he fell face first into a mud bucket of chaotic intertwining that overwhelm u with inconsistent character and a story that leave u gasp for less . tautou beautiful face adorn the cover of this box and but do not be so take immediately a i do in assume that this be go to be another monumental journey into tautou french cinema . tautou be in this film and do not get me wrong and but one could argue that she be not at the center of this story . firode job be to create a series of random event that eventually will lead to an audience friendly ( albeit confuse ) end which exemplify that meaning of refresh melodrama . he utterly and utterly fails . firode fails by give u and the audience and too many character . with too many character he give u too many random intervention and and by the end you do not really care who be who and or what be what and or how be how while your main focus happen to be center solely on the end credit and the time destination of their arrival . tautou could have save this film from the disaster it be if only firode would have give her the center . ala and he do not and but attempt to seemingly force a group of 12 through a theoretical film hole about the size of a penny . it just do not work and we be leave with a jam in which we be completely stick . firode fail because he focus so intently on the minor detail that and for one of those rare film occurrence and he actually forget the central focus . i can say that there be no defined central focus to happenstance . in the beginning he attempt to create one with our two suppose main character discover that they share the same birthday and their horoscope promise love by the moonlight and but we never go back to that throughout the film . instead and again and we be bombard with new character and stuffy scene and and meaningless drivel obviously choose to direct u away from an actual story and more into a world full of ifs and ands and and buts . i couldn not do it . i couldn not believe this film . writer firode ( yes and the same guy direct this garbage ) use a technique so primitive in this film that i immediately felt like end it immediately . he must have be assume that many of u be incapable of actually follow the storyline ( or the scientific premise ) because he grab the aid of a homeless person to actually fill in the respective blank . i do not need this and nor do i think firode need to belittle his audience in this matter . while there be other element that just do not seem to work for me at all ( again and felt like a jumbled parisian collage of shredded paper ) and this be the icing on the cake . i do not need my hand hold through film . i will give this film one star for credit . this be a rather difficult genre to master successfully . time travel film be especially hard because of the innumerable amount of possibility that be never account for and but with happenstance it work because firode semi explore the different avenue . while i will counter with say that he do not do it well and it do make for at least five full minute of enjoyment . i like where firode be head with this film and he have a genuinely diagramed story and but the final execution just blow this film to shred . firode could have save this film if he would have strengthen his character and while lighten up his premise and story . i think my overall mood of this film would have change if just these two simple direction be take . oh and how i only wish i could time travel back to the production of this film to show firode the error of his way . overall and for the first time ( and probably last ) and this be a tautou film that i must say utterly disappointed me . from the choppy opening to the apathetic end and i just felt that happenstance fail due to firode leadership and horrid marketing . marketing be something that i do not mention before and but why would anyone purchase this film think that it be an amelie 2 ( per the title release in hong kong ) and and why would you place tautou squarely on the cover know full well that she wasn not carry this film at all . i believe that from the first minute that pass on my dvd player and this film be in shamble . while i will applaud his subject and everything else be well below the level of mediocrity . i can not suggest this film to anyone . grade represent out of .