The Time Traveller's Wife [M]

Clare met her husband, Henry, when he was 40 and she was 6. Henry first met Clare when he was in his twenties and she in hers. Henry DeTamble is a handsome librarian with a genetic condition the causes him to involuntarily time travel. Knowing that their lives will be filled with waiting and sudden separations, Clare and Henry treasure each moment they have with each other, even more so when Henry knows that tragedy is not far away. 

This is the second time that I have watched this movie and I still maintain the stoic and solid opinion that it’s a very close to unfilmable story. That’s not to say that I didn’t tear up and draw sharp intakes of breath when piecing the cryptic clues together, but ultimately I found this movie to be a bit of a disappointment, considering how much I LOVE the book! 

Clare met her husband, Henry, when he was 40 and she was 6. Henry first met Clare when he was in his twenties and she in hers. Henry DeTamble is a handsome librarian with a genetic condition the causes him to involuntarily time travel. Knowing that their lives will be filled with waiting and sudden separations, Clare and Henry treasure each moment they have with each other, even more so when Henry knows that tragedy is not far away. 

The Time Traveller’s Wife is a truly wonderful, enchanting, and completely empowering love story and I can whole-heartedly understand the desire and perfection of turning it into a film. But, there is just so much that needs to be seen and felt and I just really felt that this was a classic example of filmmakers biting off more than they could chew. 

I think what really trumped it was the difference in mediums. On the page, the story is just so empowering and romantic and really, really deep and the reader feels that because reading words is just so much more intimate than watching a screen. Everyone made efforts to the best of their abilities and I’m not here to admonish anyone or be cruel or critical in any way related to the filming of this movie; all I am saying is that the cinema and movies often (not all the time, but quite often) take away that intimacy and rawness that infuses books. The Time Traveller’s Wife is a story that is just so deep and so heartbreaking that so intimate that it’s a real challenge to recreate onscreen. 

Especially for the leading roles; Eric Bana was gorgeous and Rachel McAdams was lovely too, but it has to be said that you couldn’t feel their love. And it’s a love that you should be able to feel. Starring Michelle Nolden, Arliss Howard, Jane McLean, Ron Livingston, and Stephen Tobolowsky, The Time Traveller’s Wife is a fine film, but one that I think could have just stayed in its original medium. Filled with comedy, romance, drama, time travel, nudity, and sadness, I have nothing against it, but I will say that it’s not the most epic or empowering romance to grace our screens. 

Nothing on Moulin Rouge!