SYNOPSIS:
Lose yourself in timeless love with this gloriously romantic story of the journey of two hearts. Artist Clare Abshire (Rachel McAdams of The Notebook) shares a deep emotional bond with Henry De Tamble (Eric Bana of The Other Boleyn Girl), a handsome librarian who travels involuntarily through time. Knowing they can be separated without warning, Clare and Henry treasure the moments they have together, imbuing them with the yearning and passion of two people imprisoned by time…and set free by love. Based on the #1 bestseller, The Time Traveler's Wife weaves together destiny and devotion, past and future to turn an extraordinary love into an extraordinary love story.
MOVIE REVIEW:
This reviewer may not be the most knowledgeable when it comes to novels, but he knows how to identify a popular title if he sees one. So when the title of this romantic drama was announced, he knew he had heard his friends mentioned about the novel before. Who wrote it? He doesn’t know. With which gender is it a favourite with? He knows that for sure – girls who love a romantic tale that also serves as a tearjerker.
And who better to star in this heartrending tale than the very handsome Eric Bana (Star Trek, Funny People) and the very pretty Rachel McAdams (State of Play, Sherlock Holmes) – real life cannot get any picture perfect than this, can it? It gives hope to all of us mere mortals that a picture perfect scenario like this can happen in our drab lives.
Bana plays a librarian with a genetic anomaly that causes him to travel in time – sounds cool? The only problem is, he is not able to control the moment or the destiny of these fantastical voyages. On one occasion, McAdam’s character meets him in the library, where she invites him to have dinner. She then confesses that she has been in love with him since she was six years old. It is from this moment the two begin a relationship that will put them to the test of love.
Who can resist Bana and his hairy chest (thanks to the smart filmmakers who have him naked every time he travels through time), or McAdams’s droopy eyes whenever her character is required to look sweet and lovely? No one, apparently, considering how this project got the green light from its financers despite the dreary pace during its 107 minute runtime.
While this reviewer hasn’t read the original novel, he is guessing that many details have been left out in this movie adaptation to keep things digestible and understandable for viewers like, err, him. However, that doesn’t translate well to the final picture, because every plot development, or as some would term it, “twist”, seems contrived and illogical. Sure, we are supposed to suspend our beliefs when we watch a movie like this, but the treatment is just too manufactured and forced to have us feeling for the painful separations the protagonists have to go through.
So what’s left of this movie is, yes, the eye candy. And maybe the dreamy cinematography which makes viewers feel like they are traveling through time. The ending? It’d probably please die hard romantics, but for this cynical reviewer, he saw it coming and he scoffs at the possibility that a beautiful scenario such as this is possible in real life.
SPECIAL FEATURES :
This Code 3 DVD contains a 21 minute featurette The Time Traveler’s Wife – Love Beyond Words where the good looking cast (that’s Bana and McAdams for you) and the other members of the crew talk about how the novel and this production impacted their lives, more for some than the others, of course.
AUDIO/VISUAL:
The movie’s visual transfer is fine, and can be viewed in either English, Japanese or Thai audio tracks.
MOVIE RATING:
 
DVD
RATING :
Review
by John Li
Posted
on 8 March 2010
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