The Time Traveler's Wife

Recently, I rented and watched Warner Brothers production of "The Time Traveler's Wife." Warner Brothers provides this synopsis of the movie: Based on the best-selling book about a love that transcends time. Clare has been in love with Henry her entire life. She believes they are destined to be together, even though she never knows when they will be separated: Henry is a time traveler -- cursed with a rare genetic anomaly that causes him to live his life on a shifting timeline, skipping back and forth through his lifespan with no control. Despite the fact that Henry's travels force them apart with no warning, Clare desperately tries to build a life with her one true love. --© Warner Bros

"The Time Traveler's Wife" stars Rachel McAdams as Claire Abshire and Brooklyn Proulx plays Claire Abshire as a child. Eric Bana stars as Henry DeTamble, the adult time traveler. Alex Ferris plays Henry as a child at six years old.

Henry deals with time travel by never committing to anything permanent-until Claire convinces him that they should be married. The movie focuses on the relationship between Claire and Henry and the strain caused by Henry's uncontrollable disappearing at the most crucial moments to travel through time. It seems symbolic of today's culture of impermanency with couples jumping in and out of each other's lives due to working, commuting, and attempting to maintain other relationships.

Why the time traveler travels through time is never delved into, which would have made the movie more believable and interesting. Henry's constant jumping through time is attributed to a chromosomal anomaly. How the chromosomal anomaly happened and why this would cause someone to travel back and forth in time is never addressed. So, the movie fails as a science fiction movie.

What I found most bothersome about this movie--the time traveler meets his future wife, when he, as an adult, appears naked in a meadow before her, while she is just six years old. I didn't get the whole thing about his not wearing clothes, except as an excuse to show off the physique of Eric Bana.

The movie seemed disjointed, but perhaps that was intended as as the time traveler's life and his wife's are always in an upheaval due to his constant traveling. In this regard, it reminded me a lot of another movie, "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button." You never get to see the couple really involved with one another. As the credits rolled by, it became clear why this should be-the executive producer of this movie was Brad Pitt, also the main character in "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button." (Could it be Brad Pitt can relate to this movie, i.e., it mimics he and Angelina Jolie's relationship? Who knows, but the two of them.)

Or, perhaps the disjointed feel was the result of changing screenwriters throughout the movie (three, to be exact)-like each writer cut and pasted bits from other films they wrote or that were successful.

I also got the feeling that the two main actors, Rachel McAdams and Eric Bana, perhaps because of the disjointedness of the movie, were not really into the characters that much. It felt as though I was watching two people competing for full profile shots on camera.

I would say travel away from "The Time Traveler's Wife," and rent the classic, "Time Machine," instead.

Director: Robert Schwentke, Screenwriter: Bruce Joel Rubin, Producer: Nick Wechsler, Dede Gardner.