CheekyChicago

Time travelling has always been one of those secret powers we all wish we could have. The ability to go back in time to relive the sweet moments of our lifetime, or skip ahead to see how our choices manifest in the future seems like it would be a blessing, not to mention just plain ole’ freaking cool. But what if your time travelling ability was involuntary? More like a twitch you couldn’t control as opposed to a skill you could harness and master? Perhaps then, it would feel more like a curse. And it is this curse that plagues Henry DeTamble (played by the strapping and pitch-perfect Eric Bana) and his patient and loyal wife Clare Abshire (the magnificent Rachel McAdams) in the film The Time Traveler’s Wife.

Henry is unable to control his travels: when he leaves, where he goes, or how long his trip will last. (However, Henry/Bana always ends up at his destination sans clothing: not a bad thing for the lucky ladies in audiences across America.) His destinations are tied to his subconscious – he most often travels to places and times related to his own history. Yet nothing has more of an impact on his history than his relationship with Clare, the little girl he meets in a meadow when she is just six-years-old. Since that fateful encounter, Henry pops in and out of Clare’s life as she matures into a young woman – while she falls in love with her elusive friend. As the story progresses, they are both plagued by family tragedy, miscarriages, separation and blessed with marriage, reconnection, a perfect home and, eventually, a beautiful little girl together. It’s quite a magical story…if only it translated to film better.

The film does a disservice to those (like me) who didn’t read the book by assuming that, well, we did. However, even for those who did read the book (like my movie-going companions), the storyline felt patched together and contrived from its literary standpoint. And while the notion of time travelling is an interesting plot device (regardless of a literary origin or not), Robert Schwentke’s direction made the whole concept a little too far-fetched and it was difficult to jump on the space-time continuum. McAdams and Bana have outstanding chemistry, but it’s not enough to save this film from poor flow and mild melodrama. And for as much as we Cheekies are suckers for a romantic movie that tugs at those heartstrings, if you are really in the mood for a love story, spend your $11 on 500 Days of Summer instead.