THE TIME TRAVELER’S WIFE Review

A heartbreaking, romantic drama with a hint of sci-fi that makes it all the more engaging. An unconventional story of relationship but still has the same dilemma that any other relationship goes through. I’ve never read the book that it’s based on but… THE TIME TRAVELER’S WIFE has enough strength, sensitivity and and mystery to keep you captivated all the way to its bittersweet ending. It’s the same reason why I enjoyed Lake House, because for a movie that took 2 years or so to finally hit theaters, it’s refreshing to watch a chick flick with a twist.

“The Time Traveler’s Wife” is based on the best-selling book about a love that transcends time. Clare (Rachel McAdams) has been in love with Henry (Eric Bana) 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.

This movie doesn’t put heavy emphasis on the logic or the reasoning behind why the lead character, Henry, could have this ability and why he has no control over it. So if you’re looking to see more of that, you might get disappointed. It does touch on the possibility of finding a sci-fi answer, Henry finds a doctor who might have theories of gene anomaly and they undertake some tests to see what can be done about it but that’s a small part of the story that really doesn’t play a big role in the underlining themes or the very sad yet hopeful conclusion. And this is good, better to have a movie that knows what it’s trying to be than a movie that tries to take on too many forms resulting in confusion and audiences having difficulties connecting with the characters.

It has a decent VFX for whenever Henry has to slowly disappear, you see his body vanishing into thin air right before your very own eyes. Some may argue that the make-up dept could do better in separating the younger Henry and the aging Henry in his 40s with wrinkles and shades of gray hair. It might be asking too much for a Benjamin Button type technology to be utilized for this as well, not every movie project out there has the same budget, after all, I approach this like watching Patrick Swayze’s Ghost but at the same time, I think they could go the distance a bit rather than just giving Eric Bana a very obvious toupee.

This is an adaptation that moves fairly quickly. You might have to keep up with the pacing because you never know which Henry a scene might be dealing with because apparently he can go back to the past and also travel to the future involuntarily. That is also what this movie’s humor relies on. The mystery aspect of it all is quite intriguing. Halfway through, all of a sudden you have to face the question of when Henry must meet his demise and how it might take place because even Henry himself has no clue.. or so we think.

Great performances by Rachel McAdams and Eric Bana. Two fantastic actors with solid chemistry. McAdams to me is like the next Julia Roberts, she is talent, intensity, emotion and smile mixed into one. As Claire, McAdams gives you a strong-willed woman who knows what she wants in life and what she wants is a life, a family with Henry no matter how stressful it would get, having to live in an empty place sometimes for weeks before he returns again. In a way, it’s a kind of a long distance relationship between the two. The separation could put a strain on the couple but no matter how bad it gets, they always find a way to each other.. whether it’d be young Henry or old Henry, young Claire or old Claire, that is what I’d like to call the aww factor.
Bana shows you a man conflicted, a man who really doesn’t want to have his ability, he’s sick and tired of having to steal clothes just to survive, a man who’s sad of seeing the toll it takes on his marriage. Bana is effortless.

For the record, the concept of a 36 year old man befriending a 6 year old can be a bit creepy. Next to Edward watching Bella as she sleeps in Twilight, THE TIME TRAVELER’S WIFE is the creepiest movie I’ve seen lately. When young Claire gets mad because she wants old Henry to marry her, or when young adult Claire finally meets Henry and all her years of fantasizing about old Henry since she was a kid, her years of sexual desire is realized in just one night, you can clearly see the carnal feast in her eyes.. it reminds me of how Katie Holmes said that she’s been ‘wanting’ her now husband, Tom Cruise, ever since she was a teen. Some may find that romantic, and I can understand. What’s more romantic than ending up with the only person you’ve practically known your whole life, your best friend. But for better or worse, I feel like calling the cops on Henry when old Henry meets young Claire in the meadow.

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