SMT Weekly Flick by Paul Krismantis
Here Today, Gone… Today
The Time Traveler’s Wife (Rated PG-13) 108 mins.
Sometimes accepting the premise of a movie is half the battle. So it is with The Time Traveler’s Wife, the wholly original new love flick starring Eric Bana and Rachel McAdams. Wholly original, that is, and utterly preposterous. But that’s why we go to the movies right? Who wants believable? With movies like Transformers making $400 million, I think the answer is not many people at all.
In a summer full of talking robots and guinea pigs, the idea of a guy teleporting through time in random fashion while trying to maintain a romance has plenty of room to fit. And it does. Especially because when Henry (Bana) and Clare (Rachel McAdams) are together, the sparks that fly are very real. Theirs is a love story that begins in Clare’s childhood when she comes across a naked man (clothes apparently do not travel time well) hidden in the shrubbery of her family’s meadow. She offers him her blanket; he gives her his name and promises that they will meet again. Then before she knows it, he is gone. Years later they meet in a library, and this time it’s Clare who does the introducing, for this Henry is at a different stage in his life. Confused? Deal with it.
Over time Clare grows accustomed enough to his comings and goings to fall in love with Henry and marry him, but never enough to get over the hurt. For every magical moment he is there to share with her, he is missing many that are important for regular couples. Thankfully he makes his own wedding, albeit just barely. Henry gives new meaning to the phrase “a man who is never around.” To his credit it’s not his fault, as his “condition” is one that leaves the poor guy with no control. And pitiful he is, for anyone who is fortunate enough to have the stunning McAdams in love with them should know better than to take off (I’m talking to you, Ryan Gosling!).
While it’s easy to poke fun of The Time Traveler’s Wife from a critical standpoint, the fact is that the film actually excels at engaging the viewer. Anyone who has seen Bana or McAdams in any of their films know they have talent, and that talent is on full display here as they are able to make their characters Henry and Clare believable despite the unbelievable premise of the movie. We feel their pains, their joys, and their deep love for each other, a result rarely seen in any romantic films, let alone one that involves time-travel. Bana’s Henry showcases the same quiet determination and devotion that Bana excels at playing, as his role in Spielberg’s Munich proved to us four years ago. And while McAdams has already proven herself as a rising star, she shows a deeper side of her ability as Clare struggles to hold on to her love despite the difficulty of never knowing when Henry will be around. Their chemistry and belief in their characters carry The Time Traveler’s Wife.
The last time we were given a romantic movie carried so well by its lead characters was in The Notebook, when Ryan Gosling and Rachel McAdams took a fairly average film and stole the hearts of many at the box-office. Thanks to Bana and McAdams (again!) The Time Traveler’s Wife has a chance to do the same. It will be interesting to see how it stands the test of time. But for now, while there are more interesting “date movies” currently out (check out 500 Days of Summer if you get the chance), there have been none this year that share the magic of two actors nailing an onscreen romance the way they do here. This is one of those films guys add to their DVD racks because they never fail to impress a new girlfriend (and because they secretly like it). Enough said.
SCORE: 3.5/5
