The Time Travelers Wife (Warner Brothers Pictures)
Not Logical, Romantics Dont Care
The new film The Time Travelers Wife is based on the best selling novel by Audrey Niffenegger. The plot concerns a man who is destined to travel through time until he dies. Eric Bana plays the time traveler, Henry, and Rachel McAdams is his true love, Clare. The film is one that defies any kind of logic and keeping up with the time, setting, etc is difficult at best but romantics who will flock to this movie could care less. It is a love story that overcomes all odds and that is what these viewers want and need.
Henry has a life but from time to time he is hurtled through time to the past or the future. He has no control over where he goes or when but he always ends up stark naked as his clothes dont travel wit him. This is awkward and especially so when he turns up in the woods surrounding the estate of the Abshires.
Clare (Brooklynn Proulx) is nine or ten the first time Henry lands in her area. He hides himself in the woods while he talks to her and eventually she gets him a blanket to cover himself with. He asks her to get some of her fathers old clothes and leave them in the woods for his next visits which she does.
Eventually Clare meets Henry in his real life and they are drawn to each other. Clare is willing to put up with Henrys affliction even though she never knows how long he will be gone. They seek medical help for his problem but nothing seems to work.
The movie is very romantic with McAdams being luminous throughout the film. You can see her love for Henry in her eyes. The same cant be said of Bana. He is an awkward leading man with a too weak jaw and a too small mouth. He is not the one who should be playing opposite McAdams in this role. A stronger leading man would have lifted the movie to greater heights of drama and romanticism.
The film is rated PG-13 for profanity and nudity.
The Time Travelers Wife is a satisfying movie that should please the audience for which it is intended. It has that same ethereal quality that Somewhere In Time had and we all know how popular that movie has become. The same is true of another similar film which is The Notebook.
There are gaps in the plot that cant be figured out no matter how accepting of time travel the audience is. Still romantics will add it all up and find the movie to be just fine. Oh but if only they had cast someone other than Bana, then the movie could have soared.
I scored The Time Travelers Wife a spacey 6 out of 10.
