Anyone whose been married a number of years know how the quirks between a couple can so easily collide -- but with all due respect, it's probably nothing compared to mind-wracking plight Emily Mortimer's character is experiencing in the new comedy drama "Chaos Theory."

Opening in select cities Friday, "Chaos Theory" stars Ryan Reynolds as Frank Allen -- an author renowned for his book "The Five Minute Efficiency Trainer" -- a guide to the art of living that's literally dictated by timetables and index cards.

Frank wouldn't be true to his ideals, of course, if he didn't live that sort of life, and the choices he makes on a daily basis are dictated by his notes on index cards. In other words, nothing in Frank's life is spontaneous. That is, until one day where his wife, Susan (Mortimer, "Lars and the Real Girl") decides to loosen up her husband by adding 10 minutes to his day and setting the clock backward: effectively setting off a chain of events that turns her husband's meticulous world -- and their lives together -- upside down.

"Susan is at the time in her life where she needs something to change in the way that their marriage is going," Mortimer said in an @ The Movies interview this week. "She loves Frank very much, but those idiosyncrasies that she was attracted to at first, after years and years, have become obsessions. She's living the role of the free spirit and he's living the role of the organized, driven person with his head down -- it becomes polarizing in a marriage if one is very organized and the other one isn't."

The concept of someone believing their control of every aspect of their life in "Chaos Theory" can't help but inspire debates of free will and destiny. While some people believe that one move propels the next, creating a human domino effect in a sense, others are of the mind that they can choose their own paths.

Mortimer doesn't strictly adhere to one belief or the other, but instead, thinks life is about a little bit of both.

"I think life throws all sorts of terrible things and good things your way that you have no control over," Mortimer observed. "You'll have moments when you're down on your luck and things go terribly wrong and things seem appalling, and equally, you'll also have moments where everything is wonderful and you're feeling fantastic, loved, full of love and at the top of your game."

Ultimately, she said, it's how people deal with adversity that shapes them.

"The bad times, the failures and everything falling apart all around you -- that's inevitably going to happen," Mortimer said. "What you make of your life comes down to how you cope and how you allow that to help you learn about yourself and other people. How you survive those times and getting through them is the deciding factor rather than fate or good luck or anything else."