The Time Traveler’s Wife
No time is wasted. In a way. We are hurled right into the middle of the dilemma of Henry (the time traveler) and Clare (his wife). An explanation is given, but not at first. We’re left to deal with the confusion in much the same way Henry and Clare are, that is to say, holding on for dear life. Much darker than expected, drenching with sentimentality and nostalgia, The Time Traveler’s Wife is a misnomer of a title, but also a fairly heartbreaking story of unconditional love.
Henry has struggled his entire life with what we are told is called ‘chronoimpairment,’ involuntary time travel. He meets Clare, falls in love, and the story begins. They deal with his traveling in much the same way that couples deal with spouses in the armed forces or international business. Theirs is a wholly different struggle, of course, given that Henry’s ‘trips’ are against his will and not only in space, but in time.
The story itself is not a bad one. Having not read the novel, one still notices the effort by Audrey Niffenegger, the author of the novel, to create a very realistic world, where his time travelling is a genetic impairment, a disease, not a fairytale. In fact, at no point is magic qua magic involved or mentioned in any way. That being said, the film itself was written by Bruce Joel Rubin, the pen behind Deep Impact and Stuart Little 2. As such, nearly every scene reeks of sentimentality. Kitsch is the foundation of this film. Rubin has taken what appears to be a pretty good story and infused so much nostalgia and emotionalism that we aren’t left to respond to the story itself, but the emotions that Rubin and director Robert Schwentke have so thickly laid on. If you have ever seen an otherwise beautiful girl covered in layers of makeup, you can relate to the tawdry cheesiness that this film displays on so many occasions.
The acting is actually split right down the middle. Rachel McAdams is fantastic, as per usual, revealing the struggles of a girl in love with a man she has little control over. Ron Livingston, the best friend, and Arliss Howard, Henry’s father, contribute honest and adequate performances to this film, though Livingston is the better half in this case. Eric Bana, the Time Traveler himself, is a glorified Keanu Reeves in much of the film, showing little emotion, rarely reacting, giving so very little to McAdams that she should be considered for an award simply for how well she was able to perform with him. He’s a hit-or-miss actor, and here, he’s a miss. He offers a certain desirable appearance, but he is just barely adequate as Henry. Nothing more.
It puts a new spin on the love story. Their story begins in mideas res, and we follow their struggling relationship as they deal with his frustrating and enervating condition. This is a fantasy/sci-fi love story, and it pulls at your heartstrings. Buy into the convention, and you just might find yourself invested in the characters and their attempt to hold on to the one thing they want more than anything else. Something we can all relate to, in our own ways.
Rating: 2/4 Stars
